The 98th Hunger Games: Glass Maze
by androidilenya
Summary: Twenty four kids are thrown into the Hunger Games once more... and only one will come out alive. Title kinda explains the arena. Read and review, and may the odds be ever in your favor! Complete, finally!
1. Chapter 1: Reaping

**Alright, so... the original story got taken down from this site 'cause it was 'interactive' or something. Gr. So I'm using the same characters and just reposting it. Hope this doesn't cause too much trouble for you.**

**Starting right out with the Reapings.**

* * *

District One

"You are still going through with this?"

She turned to look at him, frowning slightly. "Of course. Are you backing out?"

"Of course not," he replied, an obviously fake smile crossing his face as he bowed to her. He checked his pocketwatch and offered her his arm. "Are you ready to go, my lady?"

She smiled icily at him, taking his arm. "Yes. Shall we go?"

The two of them stepped out onto the stairs, black shoes clicking on the marble steps. The giant black oak doors creaked open, sunlight streaming through it, making the dust motes glow golden. Light surrounded the two of them, and she turned to look at him. The two of them seemed like a beautiful couple, the very incarnation of perfection.

If only one could see beneath that flawless exterior...

* * *

Leywyn Averroes hated this day.

Of course, most people in Panem did. But then again, most people were not citizens of the Capitol. Nor were most people the elected Escort of said district. And Leywyn had the great honor of being both.

She straightened her blue dress and took a deep breath as she stepped onto the stage. As expected, the moment she came into view she was hit with a wall of sound from the crowd. Wincing, she stepped up to the podium and adjusted the microphone. At the very front of the crowd was a large group of teenagers, waiting expectantly. The eagerness on their faces made her stomach twist- were they really so excited to kill and possibly be killed?

Again, she hated this day. Reaping Day. Because no matter what she did, two children were going to be leaving this place tonight, and at least one of them would never return.

"Hurry it up!" someone from the back of the crowd yelled.

She refused to respond, instead picking up the glass bowl to her right. "Ladies first," she called, sticking her hand in and feeling around for a slip of paper.

Before she could withdraw a name, a tall girl with long, blonde hair stepped forward. "I volunteer."

"Lily Trintia."

She was the daughter of one of the richest and most influential members of District One and the most pampered girl in all of Panem. If she was volunteering, that could only mean that...

"I volunteer as well."

Everyone turned to look at the boy who had spoken. He had short, messy, dark-grey hair and a smirk on his face. The other children that had formerly been crowding the stage drew back at the sight of him, falling silent, almost as if they were afraid of him. And they had every right to be afraid, too.

"Ferro Rete," Leywyn said, dropping the piece of paper back into the bowl. He looked up at her, smirk still firmly on his face.

"Yes? That's me."

_My god, he's annoying_. Everyone knew who Ferro was, just like they knew who Lily was. Ferro was the bodyguard and butler of the Trintia family, so if Lily was going to volunteer for the Games, it was almost inevitable that he would as well, to protect his mistress.

_I wonder if they've figured out that one of them is going to have to kill the other... because Ferro would never let anyone else kill Lily._

Leywyn forced a smile onto her face and motioned for them to follow her. "Congratulations. You two are the Tributes for District One."

Ferro's smirk widened, and Lily simply raised her chin like the stuck-up heiress she was.

_I don't think I can handle this..._ Leywyn shuddered inwardly as she realized that she would be spending much of her time with these two for quite awhile. _Crap..._

* * *

District Two  
Saffron brushed back her trademark orange hair, grinning at her friend Lina. "Bet I can volunteer before you do."

"Bet you can't," the blonde girl countered, scowling. "I'd have a better chance of winning, anyways."

"I doubt that. But you'll have to beat me to the Tribute spot first. It is my last year, after all. Can't miss this chance, right?"

"Hmph." Lina followed her into the town center, still looking mad. "Well, I'll still beat you."

"Yeah, right." She smiled cheekily at her best friend and rival, then sauntered off, knowing that it would enrage the younger girl.

* * *

"Ladies first!"

The orderly line of teenagers shifted ever so slightly as Alia Dialogous reached into the first glass bowl. As in District One, someone stepped out of line before the Escort could say anything further.

"I volunteer," a girl said confidently. Alia noticed that she had shoved another girl backwards before coming out- no doubt making sure whoever it was couldn't contest her claim to Tribute.

"Saffron Jelikson," Alia said, smiling at her approvingly. She has a chance, at least, unlike some of the weaker members of this District. "Boys next!"

"I volunteer."

Alia blinked in surprise. _Never mind what I said before. There is no way Saffron can win now._

"Andrew Clanculum," she said, switching her wide smile to him. _Andrew Clanculum, indeed. Now that is someone I can really see winning._ All of her approval had been diverted to him, since he had a much greater chance at winning these Games. Having him win would mean that she would have a chance at a promotion to District One and finally get her out of this District. He seemed to know what she was thinking, and a shiver went down her back as his soft brown eyes met hers.

There was a sinister air about him, and she got the sense that he was someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill to get what he wants.

_Perfect. He is going to win this one for me._

She left the stage, followed by the two Tributes.

District Three

"Millie!"

Millienna Roberts yawned and rubbed her eyes, sitting up in bed. "Coming, Grant!" She pushed the blankets aside and yanked off her nightgown, brown hair spilling down her back. Her eyes fell on the yellow dress draped over her desk chair and she remembered what today was.

"Better hurry up, Millie!" her older brother shouted up the stairs impatiently.

"On my way!" She slid into the dress and zipped it up, glancing in the mirror just long enough to notice how messy her hair was. Ah well, there wasn't anything she could do about it right now.

Her brother glanced up as she hurtled down the stairs, skipping the last step for luck. "You ready?"

"Yeah," she replied, ignoring her growling stomach. She didn't have time for breakfast, so when she (hopefully) came back home she would make Grant cook her his amazing pancakes. "Do I look alright?"

"Yeah. Let's go!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door, smiling at her.

"Good luck!" Mikael called from an upstairs window. Grant and Millie were the last two members of the Roberts family that were eligible for Reaping, and since Grant was eighteen, if he got through this year he would be safe. Neither of Millie's other three brothers were worried, but Millie was terrified that Grant would be Reaped.

The two of them joined a large group of other children who were making their way down to the town center.

_Please, please, let him not be picked,_ Millie prayed. _He's so close..._

* * *

Pyce Ocutus glared at the rowdy crowd as he hobbled onstage, leaning heavily on his cane. The old man had been the Escort for District Three for twenty years and wasn't planning to leave any time soon, but that didn't stop him from being as bad-tempered as ever on Reaping Day.

Without preamble, he thrust his hand into the girl's bowl and withdrew a piece of paper. "Millienna Roberts!" he called.  
A boy in the second row gasped and turned to look at the girl standing next to him, an expression of shock and dread on his face. The girl's only reaction was a slight tensing of her shoulders and a sudden clenching of her fists.

Pyce pocketed the slip of paper- he collected them, and pasted them into a book when he got back to his house- and proceeded to grab another piece from the boy's bowl. "Servic Gearwhir!"

A pale boy in the front row jumped in surprise. Sweat broke out across his face and he started twitching. Pyce stared at him, not feeling even the tiniest bit of pity for the little boy.

Despite their obvious fear, both Tributes managed to follow him out.

District Four

"Rydel, you idiot-"

The brown haired boy tilted his head at his little sister, a good-natured smile on his face. "What's the matter, Delilah?"

"We have to be at the Reaping in five minutes and you decided to go swimming?" The eleven-year-old put her hands on her hips and planted her feet, glaring up at her older brother.

He frowned at her. "So? I'm back now, aren't I?"

"Yes, with your feet all muddy and your shorts all wet. Ugh!" She gave an exasperated groan and threw him a collared shirt. "Here. Put this on and let's go, or we'll be late."

"You're coming?" he asked, surprised, as he pulled on the shirt. Delilah and her twin brother, Leighton, would be eligible for Reaping next year, but this year neither of them had to go.

"Of course I am. Leighton will meet us there. Now let's go!" She paused and straightened his collar. "There. Now you're at least halfway presentable. C'mon."

He followed her out the door, laughing.

* * *

"Hello everybody!" Ayla Nicea cheered into the microphone, dyed blue hair flopping forward into her face. "Y'all excited?"

If the energetic twenty-two year old was bothered by the unenthusiastic response, she didn't show it. "All right, y'all know the drill. Girls then boys!" She reached down, hot-pink nails flashing in the sunlight, and plucked out a slip of paper.

"Averi Mireault!"

The cameramen turned to focus on a frozen, green-eyed girl. She was clearly terrified, face bloodless and hands shaking, but she was doing an admirable job of holding it together in front of the cameras.

"Congratulations, Averi. Now~," she shuffled the papers in the other bowl and pulled one out-, "Rydel Dewleaf!"

"No!"

Everyone turned to look at the source of this outburst. A little girl was clinging to her brother, glaring at Ayla. The boy gently loosened her grip, muttering something softly in her ear. She let him go and watched him walk away, tears welling up in her eyes.

District Five

"Leo, do you think I'm going to get picked this year?" Julia looked up at her boyfriend as they walked down the gravel driveway of his home on the outskirts of town.

"Hey, hey, stop worrying about it," he said reassuringly. "I mean, your name's only in there three times. The chances of you getting picked are about one to-"

She cut him off before he could tell her the odds, since math always made her feel dumb. "That's okay, then. But just in case, I want a kiss."

He did so eagerly, wrapping his arms around her happily.

She broke off, smiling, after a few seconds. "We'd better go, or Mom will wonder where I am."

"And we wouldn't want that, would we?" he asked, laughing as they ran down the path together to the town center.

* * *

Huilan Tarses sighed as he limped onto the stage. A survivor of a past Hunger Games himself, being the Escort for District Five was nothing more than a yearly duty, a way to escape the responsibility of being a Tribute's mentor. At least as an Escort all he had to do was bring them to the Capitol and, on the off chance that they did win, lead their Victory Tour.

"Ladies first," he said. Funny how a lot of District Escorts said that, he reflected as her pulled out the first slip of paper that his hand landed on. "Julia Rikerson!"

Unlike a lot of other Escorts, he knew the majority of the kids personally. So when he read the name on that paper, he felt a pang of pity for the poor girl and her boyfriend.

And now for the boys... He did the same for the other bowl and realized, as he read the name, that it wasn't just Julia he should be feeling sorry for. "Leonard Cryonars!"

Whispers ran through the crowd. Everyone knew that Julia and Leo were dating, so having both of them picked for the same Games was... like the beginning of a soap opera, honestly. But it should make for good watching, at least.

Unless, of course, both of them died completely randomly. In which case it would only be their families that suffered.

They followed him off the stage, holding hands and talking urgently to each other.

District Six

_Hmm... what should I wear today?_ Zana Listal thought, staring at her closet.

_Anything that makes your boobs look big,_ she answered herself, smirking. The truth being that said body parts needed very little augmentation as it was. She selected the long green dress- the one that made her hazel eyes look brown- and slid into it.

"I'm so totally ready for this!" she muttered to herself as she glanced in the mirror. Below her, she could hear her brothers arguing in the kitchen, Max's voice coming through the floor loud and clear.

"I don't care what you want. You have to do as I say since I'm the older brother and-"

She sighed and went over to her window. The shutters creaked as she opened them, and she carefully swung one leg over, feeling around for the rough bark of the tree branch that stretched right under her bedroom window.

_If they're going to be the idiots they usually are, I'm gonna go to the Reaping alone,_ she thought, annoyed, as she closed the window behind her. The ground was close enough to jump to without hurting herself, so that was what she did.

Satisfied at her escape, she set off down the path, humming to herself.

* * *

"Is everybody here? Raise your hand if you aren't here-" Lonnoc Kedair laughed weakly at her own joke before clearing her throat and rolling up her sleeve. "Welcome to the Reaping for the 98th Hunger Games. Ladies first~"

A hush fell over the crowd, which was a rather more sizable one than the other districts could boast. District Six was one of the largest in Panem, so the number of children eligible for Reaping was proportionally bigger.

"Zana Listal!"

Then, without pausing, she reached into the other bowl. "Cole Everain!"

"No, wait!" A pale boy with messy brown hair stepped forward, a determined expression on his face. "I volunteer!"

"Jack?" said a boy next to him, looking at his brother incredulously. "What the hell are you doing-"

"Just trust me, Cole. I promise I'll-"

"Never mind that," Lonnoc said, stepping off the stage and grabbing the younger boy's hand. "Come with me. You too, Zara."

"Zana. My name's Zana."

"Yeah, yeah."

District Seven

Fiore was already at the town center, watching the others come in. In her mind, it was bad form to be late to something like this, hence her presence an hour ago, long before the ceremony was supposed to begin.

She folded her arms as a group of chattering kids came in, violet eyes narrowing. They were late.

Then again, so was the Escort, which was just terrible. Of course, he was always late, so...

Finally, the Escort came onstage. Denki Havreii was a huge, wide-shouldered man with very dark skin and shoulder-length black hair. He nodded to the mayor, who was standing near the front of the crowd, then reached into the nearest bowl.

"Fiore Arcase!"

She froze, hoping against hope that she had heard him wrong. Evidently she hadn't, since the girl next to her gave a sickeningly false sympathetic smile to her before turning back to the stage.

Denki had drawn from the boy's bowl by this point. "Walter Redwoods!" he called, then motioned for them to follow him out.

Walter was a tall, burly boy with curly brown hair, and he looked as upset as Fiore felt.

_Heck, at least I'm not the only one who's afraid, ne?_ she thought as they left, following Denki.

District Eight

"Fleece..."

"Yes?" He rolled over to face the girl, rubbing his eyes. Sunlight was streaming through a gap in the curtains, falling across the bed and making the girl's red hair light up.

"Don't you remember what today is?"

"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered as he threw off the sheets and sat up. He stretched and yawned, the flicked on the lamp next to his bed. "Hey, I had a great time last night, sweetie. But I gotta go, and so do you. So we'd better get dressed."

"Well, I was the one who woke you up," she pointed out. "If it were up to you, you'd snore right through the Reaping. And then where would you be?"

"Mmph..." He shrugged on a rumpled shirt and turned to face her. "You have to go too. Hop out the window so my mom doesn't see."

"All right~" She smiled at his flirtatiously before opening the window and slipping out. He watched her go, running a hand through his hair and not smiling back at her.

_Once again, a girl that wanted to sleep with me simply because I could convince her to. And I bet you anything she'll come back tomorrow night, begging to come back in. Why can't any of them understand that I just don't want to be tied down like that? Stupid, helpless girls..._

He pulled on a pair of pants and opened his bedroom door. The smell of bacon hit his nose, but he had to be at the town center in ten minutes, so breakfast would have to wait.

"Be back soon, Mom!" he called over his shoulder as he left, pulling the door closed firmly. He took a deep breath of the cool morning air, still a bit disoriented. After squinting around for a few moments, he set off, waving to his the little old lady that lived next door.

"Don't get Reaped," she yelled from her front porch, where she was watering her plants.

"Don't worry, I won't!" he called back, smiling.

* * *

"H-hi everybody... I'm Tryssa Chen and I'm the new E-escort for District Eight. You know how this works, r-right?" The young lady looked at the crowd shyly, twisting a strand of her long blonde hair with her right hand. "Ladies first."

She reached down to the very bottom of the bowl and picked out a piece of paper. "Cristina Valentina!"

The girl that the cameras turned to look at was only twelve years old. The crowd muttered sympathetically as an older woman, presumably Cristina's mother, burst into tears.

"U-um... now for the b-boys," Tryssa stuttered, unnerved by this display of emotion. She hurriedly grabbed a slip of paper, dropping it in her haste. She blushed a brilliant red when the mayor bent to get it for her. "S-sorry, sir. Fleece Winower!"

The majority of the girls in the audience gasped or fainted (or, in some cases, both) as the cameras focused on a handsome seventeen year old. He followed Tryssa and Cristina out, dwarfing both of them.

District Nine

"Where are you going, Kyla?"

The black-haired girl turned to face her two-year-old brother, smiling kindly. "I have to go somewhere, Bentley."

He looked up at her, frowning. "Can I come?"

"No, not today." She knelt down and hugged him, doing her best to keep her dress from getting crumpled. It had been her mother's, and it fit Kyla perfectly. She wanted to take good care of it, even though her mother was no longer alive to get mad if she messed it up.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, sucking his thumb.

"To the town hall."

"Okay," he said. "Will you come back soon?"

"Of course. I promise." She kissed him on the head. "Be good, Bentley."

* * *

Dina Elfiki glared at the crowd through her thick-lensed glasses until they were so quiet that any passing librarians would have been impressed. "Ladies first," she finally said, unceremoniously grabbing a piece of paper and unfolding it.

"Kyla Sprit."

The cameras turned to face a short girl standing alone at the edge of the crowd. Her mouth had dropped open in shock and she was staring at Dina in absolute disbelief.

Dina ignored her and sternly pulled out another slip. Peering over the top of her glasses, she read, "Romulus Pace."

A smiling boy in the back looked up. "Ehh... really? That kinda sucks. Ha ha..."

Everyone stared at him a he scratched his head, still grinning.

"Follow me." Dina walked off, shoes clacking on the wooden stage, not even looking back to see if they obeyed her.

District Ten

Lysander had to get up at four a.m. to milk the cows anyways, so he was one of the first to the Reaping. Anita, their prime milking cow had been ornery as usual, and had kicked him as he was milking her. He rubbed his aching shoulder and smiled wryly at the pain that throbbed under the surface- you'd think that by now he'd have learned to dodge her feet when she tried to kick him like that. There was definitely going to be a bruise.

"Lysander, Lysander, wherefore art thou, Lysander?"

"Wrong play," he replied, not even turning around. "That's Romeo and Juliet."

"Still fun to say," his brother replied, coming up behind him and putting his arm around him. "Could be worse, right? You could've been named for someone else from that play... say, Oberon. Then we could've called you a fairy."

Lysander slapped his hand away. "Stop it." He hated it when his brothers made fun of his name- it wasn't his fault that his mother had decided to name him after a character in some play by a some ancient dead guy called Shakespeare. And his two brothers had nice, normal names... Jonathan and Richard. And he got stuck with Lysander.

"Hey, hey, that cute chick is coming onstage!"

"Her name is Melora Pazler, not 'that cute chick'." But the Escort for District Ten was indeed coming onstage, which meant that the Reaping was about to begin.

The woman wobbled on with those ridiculously high heels that she always wore. Her blood-red lips stretched in a smile as she reached into the first bowl. "Ready for this, people? Want to know who's going to the Games this year?" She didn't even wait for an answer, unfolding the paper and calling out, "Eve Epstein!"

A girl in the middle of the crowd gasped, and a little girl next to her hugged her reassuringly. Melora smiled at her kindly before pulling out the boy's name.

"Lysander Hastings!"

_Whoa. That's me._

He forced a calm expression onto his face, telling himself it was better that he go than someone younger. At least he had a shot, small though it may be, at winning.

District Eleven

Nikolaus ran around the field one more time, then slowed to a walk, drinking thirstly from his water bottle. Running before breakfast was kind of a ritual for him: he found that it helped him concentrate more on whatever he was doing that day, be it schoolwork or helping out at home.

He started walking back to his house, watching the sun rise over the treetops. His breath made a grey mist rise around his face- the morning air was still cool, even at this time of year.

Once he was home, he shrugged out of his sweaty shorts and into a nicer pair of pants. He could hear his father's drunken snores emanating from the next room, and shuddered at the thought of coming home to his cranky hangover.

_Maybe I'll ask Dylan if I can hang out at his place, after the Reaping._

Satisfied with this solution, he shrugged on a jacket and left the house, pocketing the key.

* * *

Ranul Kerul was on crutches from a recent run-in with a neighbor's dog, but he still managed to hobble across the stage and up to the microphone. "For the twelth year, I stand here as your Escort. I have seen many children pass through on their way to the Capitol, ands some-"

Someone in the back yelled, "Oh, get over yourself and just pick the names!"

"Well, if you insist." Ranul pocketed his speech- it was only three pages long- and, with an elaborate flourish, pulled out a name form the first bowl. "Irulan Deelastani!"

A small girl in the back burst into tears, and the girl next to her stood up, shouting, "I volunteer!"

"And you are-?" Ranul inquired, pulling out a pen and crossing out the name on the paper he held.

"Driania Anastasia Deelastani. But you can call me Anya."

He nodded, made a note on the paper, and turned to the next bowl. He unfolded the second piece slowly and dramatically. everyone rolled their eyes. They were quite used to his staged, overly dramatic actions, since they had to deal with it every year.

"Nikolaus Hendricks!" He paused to give the cameras time to focus on Nikolaus, then turn back to him before continuing, "You two may only be children, but the honor of participating in the Hunger Games has been thrust upon your back. I want to-"

"SHUT UP!" at least three different people yelled. He wilted, and sighed heavily.

"If you two will follow me..."

District Twelve

Tinder checked, then double-checked his outfit. The shirt was rather threadbare, and the pants were an inch too short, but it was the best he had. And it was important that he look his best today, considering what he was planning.

He stood in front of the floor-length mirror in his room, admiring himself. He had muscular arms, strong legs, and a not-too-bad face. Overall, he was someone that girls might fall for- had he had the time to attract girls.

He adjusted his sleeves so that the scars on his arms were clearly visible. It was vital that he look intimidating on camera this year.

Finally satisfied, he ran his fingers over his shaved head, making sure it was smooth enough. Then he looked at the watch on his wrist for a few seconds before taking it off. He wouldn't be needing it.

He thumped down the stairs, whistling. His mother and father were in the dining room- he walked past them without saying goodbye. They didn't know what he had planned, though they had to have some kind of a suspicion, seeing as he had been preparing for this day for a long time.

* * *

Jean Vale smiled at the crowd, silently noticing how subdued they were. _This has got to be the least enthusiastic District in all of Panem. Ah, well, I suppose they have every reason to be._

"Let's get this over with," he said, trying to show them that he hated this as much as they did. Their gazes grew no less cold, however, and he sighed and pulled out a slip of paper from the first bowl, then pulled out another from the boy's bowl.

"Rosemarie Mariosta and Adrian Aventine."

"Wait!" A tall boy stepped out, a confident smile on his face. "I volunteer."

Gasps and whispers raced through the crowd like fire through coal dust. Most of them were probably variations on, 'What's he doing, that's suicide!"

But Jean knew this boy, from past Reapings. Tinder Cole Sedenworth was something very rare: a District Twelve Career.  
From what he had heard, the boy had started training at age seven and his goal had been to win the Games. Since he was now eighteen, he had evidently decided that this was the year to enter.

"All right, then. If you two could follow me..."

They did so, Rosemarie staring at the boy with obvious surprise. Jean was surprised as well, though he liked to think that he hid it a bit better.

_This should be an interesting Game,_ he thought, shaking his head.

* * *

**And... end chapter. Next one will be the Tributes' meeting thingy with family/friends...**  
**Hope you enjoyed it. Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Goodbyes

**Here is Chapter Two. A bunch of goodbyes, out of order. Mostly initiating a relationship between the District partners and doing some character development.  
****Oh, if anyone can figure out the books I got all the mentor's names from, I will write a story for you! (within a fandom I know, of course). Same actually goes for the Escorts for Districts five through twelve, not counting Denki's first name. Not from same books as the mentors~ just PM me with the answer. Two stories for the Escorts, since I hardly expect many of you to know it.****  
****Read and review.**

* * *

"So, you two are dating." Huilan Tarses looked thoughtfully at Julia and Leonard, who were still holding hands. "That could end up being a big problem..."

"No. It won't be any kind of problem," Leonard replied. "I'm gonna protect Julia forever. Even if I have to die to do so."

"Leo-!" Julia threw her arms around her boyfriend.

Huilan rolled his eyes as they started making out enthusiastically._Dearest God, why did I have to get stuck with these two?_

* * *

"Why the hell did you volunteer for me, Switchblade?"

Jack looked up as his brother burst through the door. "Cole?"

"What were you thinking? Did you think you were being noble or brave or something? Huh?" Cole Everain threw up his hands and sat down next to his brother. "My God, Switchblade..."

"Look, if you had gone to the Games, who would've taken care of Julie and the other kids?" Jack looked at the older boy questioningly. "Had you even though of that?"

"I-I, um..."

"Did you think I could've supported them? You have people depending on you, Collin. You can't protect the kids if you're in the Games."

He opened his mouth, paused, then shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't think of that. Maybe you're right."

An awkward silence followed this admission. It was broken by the sudden sound of the door handle turning. Collin Cooper, Jack's best friend, stuck his head in.

"Hey, Switchblade, sorry I'm late!" The blonde boy stepped in, closing the door behind him. "How are you?"

"Fine," Jack replied, smiling slightly.

"I brought you something." Collin fished around in his pocket, then pulled out a silver pocket-watch on a glittering chain. "You don't have a Token yet, do you? Here."  
Jack took it, turning it over and over in his hands. It had a gold snake on it, curling around both sides, with the tail forming the catch to open it. "Thanks, Collin. It's great."

"Good luck, man." Before he could say anything more, Lonnoc stuck her head in.

"Sorry to interrupt the touching goodbyes, but it's time to go."

"Yes, ma'am!" Collin saluted sarcastically and clapped Jack on the back. "Don't get killed, okay? We'll be cheering for you!"

As he watched them leave, he was suddenly hit with the realization that he would probably never see them again. To keep from doing something stupid like crying, he turned to his fellow District Six Tribute.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Zana."

A rather terse reply but, you know, whatever. He tried again: "Didn't you have anyone visit?"

"Sure. My brothers and my father. I told them I hated them and to fuck off. And what kinda nickname is Switchblade?"

Okay then... not sure how to respond to that one. While casting about for something to talk about, he couldn't help but notice her large cleavage, which was conveniently displayed in the low-cut green dress she was wearing. But really, he shouldn't be thinking about things like that right now. "How old are you?" he asked, averting his eyes awkwardly.

"Fifteen."

Another really short answer. Not much for conversation, this one. "Okay. I'm fourteen."

Another pause.

"Double-D," she said suddenly.

"What?" he asked, staring at her, very confused.

"You were staring at my boobs, weren't you?" She looked at him quite matter-of-factly, smiling.

He had, in fact, been looking (not staring, though, gosh!), not that he would ever admit that. "No!"

"Sure~"

_This is going to be a long train ride...  
_

* * *

Romulus and Kyla sat in the waiting room awkwardly, not meeting each other's eyes. The clock on the wall was ticking quite loudly, and neither of them wanted to be there.

"So... you don't have anyone to say goodbye to you either?" Romulus finally asked, shifting in his seat and crossing his legs.

"No. I, um... I have a little brother at home and a dad but, you know..."

She seemed awfully shy, and Romulus found himself pitying her. "Yeah, I hear ya. I've got a little sis but my parents probably don't want her to see me now. Cause, you know, we're going to the Hunger Games and we're probably gonna die."

She flinched and he realized that what he had said was a bit... insensitive.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Kyla. That's your name, right?"

"Y-yeah." She nodded, clearly fighting to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling over onto her cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I forget your name."

"That's fine. I'm Romulus. Romulus Pace."

"Nice to meet you, Romulus." She gave him a shaky grin, surreptitiously wiping a tear away.

The door opened, and Dina Efiki led in two people, a woman and a man. "Here they are." She slammed the door the instant they were in, making Kyla flinch again as the loud bang reverberated through the otherwise silent room.

"Hey, hey, is she always like that?" Romulus finally asked, grinning at the two newcomers. "I'm Romulus, by the way."

"I am Sebastian Gonzalo, and that is Miranda Caliban," the man said, indicating first himself, then his companion. "We're your mentors."

"Nice to meet you!" Romulus smiled again, still cheerful despite the fact that he was meeting the people who would help him train to kill other kids. "That's Kyla. She's a bit shy, right?" He elbowed Kyla good-naturedly.

Sebastian stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I believe that we have to go to the train now. There will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other later. Let's go."

Romulus got up willingly, and followed him out, striking up a conversation about cats. Kyla was a bit more timid, keeping her eyes downcast as she edged past Miranda, who was holding the door open for her.

* * *

"What exactly was your plan, both volunteering the same year like that? Are you really so stupid that you don't realize that there can only be one winner?" Leywyn Averroes put her arms on her hips, staring quizzically at Ferro and Lily. Both District One tributes gazed impassively back at her, unmoved by her indignation.

"Obviously I will win," Ferro said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll be the winner, thank you very much," Lily snapped at the exact same time. They stared at each other, frowning.

"Well, you can hardly both win," Leywyn pointed out. "So what're you going to do?"

"Well, I'll have Ferro kill everyone for me. And then I will initiate my super-secret plan and win," Lily said smugly.

"I see." Leywyn honestly couldn't believe how stupid this girl was. How stupid and naive.

The door opened. "Hey, we're here!" A woman said. "Egeus insisted on making sure that our next-door neighbor knew to feed the cat, that's why we're late. Sorry!"

"This is Helena and Egeus Quince, your mentors," Leywyn said. She stood up, glad to have an excuse to get rid of these two. "I'm going to go see if the train is ready. You can stay and talk, but come to the station in five minutes."

"Will do!" Helena saluted the Escort, leaning on her husband. Both of them were in their late thirties, but still in fine physical condition. "Nice to meet you two," she said, turning to the kids. "What are your names?"

"I am Ferro Rete, and this is Lily Trintia."

"Good. You two look strong enough," Egeus said. "You two have a chance at winning, I suppose."

"Why thank you," Ferro said sarcastically. Lily just sniffed in contempt, clearly seeing these two as far beneath her level. Then again, that was a view she held of most of the world, so that did not mean much...

* * *

"My god, Millie..."

She looked helplessly at her brother, unsure of what to say. "It's not your fault, Grant. There's nothing you can do."

He sighed heavily. "That's what's bothering me. I can't do anything to help my baby sister!" He shook his head, squeezing his green eyes shut as if trying not to cry.

"You just have to promise to make me pancakes when I get back," she said, forcing a cheer that she did not feel into her voice. "Chocolate chip."

"You had better come back," he said. "Don't take any risks. Come back home to us, Millie. Please."

She wrapped him in a hug. "I'll try, Grant. I promise."

Pyce Ocutus cleared his throat meaningfully glancing at the clock. Millie got the hint and patted her brother tenderly on the back. "You'd better go now, Grant. Tell everyone I love them. I'll come home. I promise."

"I love you, Millie." He stood to leave, tipping his worn brown hat at Pyce. The old man watched him go, then turned to show the people behind him into the room.

"This is Gratiano Balthazar and Nerissa Stephano. They are your mentors," he said in his gravelly voice.

Nerissa bowed, her hair falling over her cat-like golden eyes. "Gratiano and I are honored to be mentoring you," she said softly. "Now, why don't we head to the train to discuss this further? I'm sure that we will be very good friends by the time we reach the Capitol."

The boy from District Three followed Millie out. She glanced at him curiously. He was a timid, pale young boy with a nervous twitch that was a tiny bit distracting.  
"What's your name?" she asked, trying to be kind.

"Servic Gearwhir. But my friends call me Sparky."

"Okay, then. I'll call you Sparky." She smiled at him, and was relieved when he smiled back. He met her eyes for an instant before looking away, fiddling with a bracelet that seemed to be made of copper wire.

* * *

"Hey, little bro! Great job, eh? You're sure to win!"

Andrew winced as his older brother patted him on the back so hard that he almost fell over. He hated his brothers, but they insisted on coming here and shoving their obnoxious selves in his face, acting like they were just wonderful older brothers etc., etc.

His theory was that they just missed being on camera. After all, both of them had been the victors of previous Hunger Games, and they no doubt saw his status as Tribute as another way to get back in the spotlight. Well, screw them. This was his time to shine, not theirs. And he was willing to do pretty much anything to get the glory of winning.

Anything at all.

His brothers finally left, and he found himself alone with his fellow District Tribute, Saffron. Her mother had already left, and she was toying with a cat charm on her bracelet and humming under her breath.

"Hey," he said, making a slight effort to be friendly, since he would probably need her as an ally. At least, until he decided she wasn't worth it and killed her.

"Hey. You're Andrew, right?" she asked, flipping her orange hair over one shoulder. "I'm Saffron."

"I know." She seemed like a typical Career, so he dropped all pretense and decided being kind wasn't worth the effort. All the Careers were the same, and they and the Capitol both made him sick, preying on other's weaknesses to satiate their own desire for a life of luxury.

THough his own reasons for volunteering were far from pure. He wasn't like that pathetic boy from District SIx who had volunteered because he wanted his brother to live... ha ha, no, he just wanted the glory of winning.

That was all he cared about.

* * *

Tinder could feel his fellow District Twelve Tribute glaring at him. It was a tiny bit disconcerting, but since it was coming from a skinny, fragile-looking girl, it wasn't very impressive.

"What's your problem?" he asked her, folding his arms.

She just looked at him. "You disgust me."

"And why would that be?"

"After all that District Twelve has gone through- after all the deaths that the Careers have caused over the years- you have the nerve to become one of them. How do you justify that?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're asking me to justify myself? What about you idiots that just lie down and take what the Capitol gives to you? Isn't what I'm doing right? I'm fighting back!"

"By becoming one of them?" She shook her head, not even bothering to disguise her anger. "Nothing could justify that."

"If you can't beat them, join them and wait till they trust you so you can stab them in the back and end up winning anyways."

"That is such a cliched line." She pointedly turned her back on him and proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the train ride. He tried to not let it bother him, instead concentrating on the cat outline someone had carved into the wood of the bench. He ran his fingers over the splintered wood, frowning.

_You knew this would happen,_ he reminded himself. _Of course they'd react like the narrow-minded slaves they are. All you have to do now is prove them wrong by winning._

* * *

"Walter!"

Walter Redwoods looked up as his little brother burst through the door, sobbing. "Jonathan? What-"

"Why do you hafta go?" Jonathan yelled, sudden fury contorting his face. The five-year-old tried to throw a punch at him, but Walter caught his wrist gently. The poor boy was probably really upset that his older brother was leaving, even if he couldn't possibly understand what the Hunger Games were, not at such a young age.  
"Hey, hey, calm down, Jon. Where's Archer?"

"Right here." Walter's ten-year-old brother appeared in the doorway, holding something hidden in his right hand. "I had to run home and get this. Here." He held out his hand and dropped a bracelet into Walter's lap.

"It's beautiful." Walter held it up to the light to admire it. It was a tiny wooden heart on a simple leather string, but the heart was cared carefully out of some dark wood and had been polished until it practically glowed.

"I... I carved it myself." Archer shuffled his feet, looking pleased, as Walter wrapped him and Jonathan in a hug.

"I'll come back," he promised. "Stay with William while I'm gone, okay?" The three boys had not had parents ever since an accident had taken both their mother and father, and Walter had taken care of his brothers ever since then. He was a bit worried about what they would do with him gone, but he trusted his best friend Will to take care of them.

"Bye!" Archer called, shepherding Jonathan out with him. The door clanged shut.

"Do you really believe you will be coming back, ne?" the girl on the other bench asked. Walter had never met his fellow District Tribute before, but she seemed like a nice enough person.

"No. But I don't want them to worry." She reminded him of his barn cat Trisha, somehow... maybe it was the way she was sitting, all curled up into herself. He resisted the urge to pet her comfortingly, reminding himself that most people would find that weird.

Then again, Trisha didn't have bright violet eyes. This girl did.

"That is so very like a mother bear, ne?"

"So... I'm a female?" He stared at her, completely confused.

"If that is how you choose to interpret it." She tilted her head, one of her dark brown twintails flopping in her face. "Then what kind of animal am I, ne?"

_Did she just read my freaking mind?_ "A cat."

"You are the nineteenth person to have said so," she said, making a face that was vaguely reminiscent of aforementioned feline. "Do you not have parents, ne? Your brothers were unaccompanied."

"They, um... they died," he said uncomfortably.

"Eh. That is too bad." She grinned, not seeming like she meant it. "But is your bed comfy, ne?"

_What. The. Hell?_"I... suppose so."

"Yeah, yeah, cause my bed is really hard. But I suppose it is all right because my parents cannot afford softer beds. I hope the beds in the Capitol are softer," she said, looking at him with those ridiculously purple eyes.

_She is so weird. Maybe she's got mental problems._Either way, Walter was seriously weirded out. And it was really annoying how she kept saying 'ne'. But, you know, whatever... if she had mental problems he shouldn't be mean to her.

* * *

Averi found it slightly strange that the boy sitting next to her was wearing swimming shorts that were still wet- like he had just gone swimming- but she didn't say anything about it.

After all, he was just another merciless, vicious Career, willing to kill whoever got in their way on their way to the top. And for someone who didn't even swat away flies because she didn't want to hurt anything... well, Rydel Dewleaf was a bit sickening.

And even worse, the idiot seemed to be hitting on her.

"Hey, Avi, what's the matter?" he asked, moving closer to her so his damp legs brushed against hers. She slid down the bench a few more inches, the third time in two minutes that she had had to do so.

"Nothing. Can you just give me a bit of personal space?" Even now, she couldn't bring herself to be rude to him, even if she wanted to slap him. She had no idea how she'd survive the Games if she wasn't willing to hurt anyone, but all she wanted to do was get back home to her parents and her sister, Fallyn.

She rubbed the piece of green sea glass that Fallyn had given her, trying to calm herself down. The glass was the same color as her eyes, and the soothing feel of it under her fingers reminded her of home.

Ayla Nicea, the energetic Escort, poked her head in. "Hey, hey, hey! Y'all ready to meet your mentors?"

"I suppose so," Rydel replied.

"I present to you... Beatrice Abergavenny and Mark-Antony Fidele! Hope y'all get along well, 'cause you'll be hanging out a ton from now on!"

Rydel nodded, and Avi looked nervously at them. She knew about Beatrice... her story was quite infamous in District Four. She had lured in most of the male Tributes by pretending to fall in love with them, getting them to sleep with her, and then killing them right when they were most vulnerable.

And now she was Avi's mentor.

"H-hi," she stammered, forcing a smile onto her face. No matter what, she had to make a good first impression, even if she was terrified. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Beatrice gestured to the train. "Shall we go?"

Avi and Rydel followed them out, the latter practically radiating confidence and the former trembling with barely restrained fear.

* * *

The other District Eight Tribute was cute enough, but Fleece had never really gone for girls younger than him. And Cristina was only twelve, which meant that there was a five year difference between the two of them.

His parents had been too busy to visit- his father was a high-up clothing salesman, and was probably in the Capitol right now, along with his mother, who was a clothing designer for a classy District this year... District Two, he thought, though he wasn't exactly sure. He'd never really paid attention to the Games before, since he hadn't ever thought he would get picked.

Then again, no one ever expected to get Reaped. Unless they volunteered, in which case they weren't technically Reaped, since their name had never gotten pulled... He shook his head, realizing that he was letting his mind wander, and the poor girl was probably lonely and scared and wanted someone to talk to. Even if he wouldn't consider her for a romantic relationship, it never hurt to make friends.

"Hey, your name's... Cristina, right?" he asked, trying to project kindness... like an older-brother-type kindness, not I-want-to-make-out-with-you kindness.

"Y-yeah." Her pale face was streaked with tears, and he wondered if she had any family to visit her. Certainly no one had volunteered for her when her name had been picked.

"Hey, it's going to be all right," he said reassuringly. "No need to cry. I bet you'll be fine."

"Really?" she mumbled, looking down, blushing shyly.

"Yeah." He reached over and tucked a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear. "You'll be great."

He didn't mean a word of it. This poor little girl would definitely get killed off in the first day, if not the first hour of the Games. He rather pitied her mentor for the impossible job of trying to prepare her for the arena.

Speaking of which...

"A-are you t-two ready to meet your m-mentors?" Tryssa Chen peeked in, and Fleece wondered how such a timid weakling had ever gotten picked to be an Escort. "Here they are."

A tall, burly man stepped in, followed by a similarly built woman. "I'm John Talbot. That's Kate Keepdown. Let's go."

_Ah, I see. A man of action, not of words._Fleece admired that, and at least this way he wouldn't have to waste time with conversation with his mentor.

* * *

"Lysander, I want you to wear this." His mother pressed a small cowbell into his hand, looking at him earnestly.

"Er... why?"

"Cows wear them so they can find their way home. I want you to find your way home too."

A_h, that's Mom for you... an incurable romantic. And I'm fairly sure cows wear them so their __owners__ can find them, not the other way around... ah well._ "Thanks, Mom. I'll wear it." He took it and threaded it onto the leather cord he always wore around his neck. "Where's Richard?"

"He can't come, he had to stay over at that farm he's working at... but Jon came, right?"

"Yeah." Lysander's other brother had already said goodbye, but his mother's farewell was much longer and tear-filled.

At the other end of the room, Melora Pazler was trying to pull a weeping woman off of the other Tribute's neck. It looked like visiting time was over.

Sure enough, once the sniffing woman was out, Melora came over to the Hastings. "Time to go, Mrs. Hasting. Lysander will be fine here with me."

Once his mom was gone, Melora turned to the kids. "Stay here and talk while I get your mentors, all right?"

"Sure."

The door slammed, and an awkward silence fell over the room.

"So... you're Eve, right?" he finally said, looking over at her.

"Yeah. You're Lysander. My brother was friends with your brother."

Now he knew who she was. "Your brother was Luc, right? The one who got killed in the Games two years ago."

"That's right," she said, looking uncomfortable, even though she was the one who had brought the topic up in the first place. It really was too bad that Luc had been killed, since from what he had sen of him he had been a nice kid. But the Games had only one winner, and that had been the year that the current District Seven Escort had won.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you upset."

No response.

"You all right?"

Still no response. He gave up, deciding to stare at the wall instead.

They waited for their mentors together, completely silent. There wasn't much to say after one participant in a conversation stops responding.

* * *

"Anya..."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for volunteering for me. But you'd better come back, okay?"

Anya looked at her little sister. "I somehow doubt that anyone goes into the Games planning to die. Expecting to die, sure. But not planning to, you know what I mean?"

Irulan, Alia, and Chani stared at her. "Sure," Chani said.

"You have your bracelet?" Alia asked.

"Of course." Anya always wore her bracelet. It was really an anklet, made out of rabbit leather with five wooden charms on it. There were three flowers- an aster for Irulan, a bluebell for Alia, and a daisy for Chani- and a crossed arrow and sword for Anya. The fifth and final charm was a simple cottage, which was Anya's last tie to the place she called home, her aunt's cottage. She and her three sisters cared for their aunt, since their parents had died long ago.

"Come back home," Irulan said, hugging her.

"I will."

"We'll be cheering for you!" Alia- the youngest- said, smiling.

"Time for you to go. Parting is such sweet sorrow, is it not? Fear not, for I shall protect your beautiful sister to the best of my humble ability. I do fervently hope that-"

"Thank you," Irulan said, cutting the long-winded Escort off. Ranul didn't look too disappointed- he must have been used to it. Anya's sisters left, and she glanced over at the boy, Nikolaus. He hadn't had any visitors, which was strange.

_What kind of family doesn't come say goodbye to a Tribute? Even Auntie would've been here if she wasn't so sick._

"Are you two ready?" Ranul asked. "Your mentors await you on the train. Shall we go? After all, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Getting started is half the job."

The tributes followed him out onto the platform and boarded the train. Anya watched District Eleven blur past, realizing that this was probably the last time she would ever see her home.

_And even if I did come back, I wouldn't be the same person._She shook off a twinge of regret, reminding herself that she had a job to do. From now on, she had to focus on keeping it together and working hard, so maybe, just maybe, she would have a chance at winning.

For better or for worse, the Ninety-eighth Hunger Games had begun.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. Please review. Oh, and if you know where I got Anya's sister's names, PM me to request a story. Just 'cause I want to do a request from someone!**


	3. Chapter 3: Parade

**Chapter three. All from one POV to keep it from getting too confusing~**

**Many thanks to Cronomon for fact-checking and being my unofficial beta... you're the best, Neko-baka. **

**Hey, hey, still waiting for those requests. I can't believe that no one recognizes at least a few of those names. C'mon, people!  
Review please. :3**

* * *

Anya's stylists were nice enough, but she couldn't really bring herself to like people that were poking and prodding and plucking her, completely invading her personal space, even if it was in the name of making her look better for the parade. Across the room, she could see Nikolaus, standing uncomfortably as his stylist mussed his hair up, gelling it into these ridiculous points. She had to admit, it did look rather nice.

He evidently didn't think so. His stylist already had a red mark on his face from where the fourteen year old had scratched him, trying to fight off the prep team's advances. It was a bit annoying to be fussed over like this, yes, but Anya found his stubbornness annoying. If he didn't cooperate, it would decrease her chances of getting a few Sponsors. And, as everyone knew, a few good Sponsors could mean the difference between life and death in the arena.

Anya glanced over to the table to her left, where a group of blonde stylists were gossiping and laughing over the long, flowing mound of fabric that they were supposed to be turning into a dress for her. She supposed that it didn't look all that bad, but it was still a touch too girly for her tastes.

"What the hell are you trying to put me in?" Nikolaus's enraged voice came from across the room, loud enough to make the stylists finch. Anya looked at the offending garment- it didn't look half bad in her opinion, though maybe he had something against the outfit. It was set of white pants and a white, short-sleeved shirt, with a touch of lace at the collar. The flowers patterns embroidered on the pants matched the ones on the dress Anya was going to wear.

"It makes me look like a girl!" Nikolaus raged, pushing his hairdresser aside and snatching up the suit, holding it up with an expression of utter disgust on his face. "It's terrible!"

He made a move to rip it, and Anya found herself standing up and grabbing his wrist. He looked at her, shocked.

"What're you-"

"They worked hard on that, Nikolaus," she said quietly. "Put it down and let them help you. That's all they want to do, and you should be thankful."

She hadn't used a very forceful tone, but something in her eyes made him shut his mouth and back down, meekly returning to his seat and letting his hairdresser, Egwene, work on him.

_Little brat_, Anya thought. _Doesn't appreciate what others do for him._

His actions had made her remember something that had happened long ago, so long ago that she was surprised that she even remembered it. It had happened on a summer's day, when she was seven and her sisters were three.

Irulan had built a birdcage, a really intricate and decorative one, for their aunt's birthday, back before the old lady had gotten so sick. The little girl had been so proud of it, so happy that she could do something like that with her own two little hands. She had shown it to all her friends, proud of her accomplishment. Anya remembered smiling at the simple joy of the youngest of the triplets.

Then, right in front of Anya, the schoolyard bully had ripped to cage out of Irulan's hands and held it up, taunting her. And before anyone could do anything, the boy had smashed it to the ground, crushing it with his foot into tiny chips of wood.

Right before it had fallen, Anya had seen a look of frozen shock and dread on her face. She had known it was going to fall, known that there was nothing she could do... and that was what had hurt Anya the most. That she hadn't been able to protect her sister from that kind of hopelessness.

And here, in this dressing room, she had seen the exact same expression on the faces of these Capitol strangers, people she hardly knew and whom she had inwardly hated for most of her life, hated whenever her sisters cried from hunger or shivered in their ragged clothing because they couldn't afford new ones, even with winter coming. Hated them for being rich and living in luxury while she coule barely keep her sisters from starving and her aunt from dying without her medication.

But they seemed to honestly care about their work, and in the end, wasn't that just part of being human: getting joy out of creating something?

Maybe these people that she had always thought of as selfish monsters were actually just like her, only born into better circumstances and a better life.

"Hey, we're ready for you to try on the dress now," a stylist called. Anya stepped down from the stool she had been on and picked up the dress.

It was light and airy in her hands, so light that she was afraid it would blow away. She slipped it over her head, noticing that the fabric was much stronger than it had felt. It swirled around her ankles as she brushed the skirt down, a small smile on her lips. It was so pretty.

_I bet Chani would've loved this,_ she thought, and just like that the smile was gone. She knew her sisters would be watching the parade tonight, and knew that they would be cheering for her once she was in the arena.

She also knew that she would probably never see them again.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she turned to the stylists, who were waiting with hopeful looks on their faces. "It fits perfectly. Thank you so much."

* * *

The roar of the crowd filtered through the closed doors, and Anya was starting to get a bit nervous.

_Suppose I trip? What if I fall out of the chariot? I'd be making a fool of myself on national television, and then what would happen? My god, what have I gotten myself into?_

Nikolaus looked sideways at her, apparently noticing her distress. "Hey, it'll be okay."

She stared at him, expressionless. "If you say so."

"Look, I'm sorry I was a bit of a jerk in the dressing room. It's just... I'm nervous. Heck, everyone's probably a bit nervous, even the Careers. And I... I guess I just overreacted. So I'm sorry." He did look honestly apologetic, too. Anya found herself liking him a bit more.

"That's okay." His apology made her feel like she should give him something in return, so she stuck out her hand. "Ally?"

"Sure." He took her hand, looking a bit surprised, but accepted her change of heart remarkably quickly.

"Are you two ready?" Egwene asked, smiling at them. "You'd better get into the chariot now."

Nikolaus held out his hand to help Anya, a wry smile hovering on the edges of his lips. She glanced at the proffered hand for an instant before placing her into his, letting him lift her into the chariot. She adjusted the dress, fingers running over the red and yellow flowers. She felt a touch unsteady on the five-inch cork heels, but she was getting used to the ridiculous shoes. Plus they were white, and they matched her dress.

She had to admit, her stylists did know what they were doing. The dress was incredible, the shoes were perfect, and Anya thought that she almost looked beautiful.

The screen above the door showed the track they were about to ride on, and the gigantic crowd that was waiting to see them. District One's chariot was already coming out of the door, to thunderous cheers.

She hadn't really paid attention to anyone else's costumes, so she turned her attention to the screen, curious.

The Tributes in the first chariot- a tall, grey-haired boy and a blonde girl- were dressed as a lady and her butler, as far as Anya could tell. The boy had an expensive-looking black suit and crisp white shirt, and the girl had an almost-see through white dress that fell to the floor, brushing the bottom of the golden chariot.

And both outfits were covered in diamonds.

Anya had never seen that much wealth in one place. That many diamonds could buy the operation her aunt needed so badly, and have enough left over to feed her family for years. And these teenagers wore them like they were nothing. The diamonds were sewn into their costumes, tracing elegant designs in a glittery outline on the black or (in the girl's case) white fabric.

She could only barely suppress a twinge of jealousy. Her previously amazing dress felt dull and ordinary now, after seeing that display.

The District Two Tributes came into view. The boy was in a black, skin-tight suit, with a vicious array of weapons strapped to his back. He had three hammers in his belt, made out of something that looked vaguely like marble, and a tough, fierce expression on his face. Hie female counterpart had her chin raised defiantly, orange hair streaming down her back and dressed with the same suit, bristling with as many weapons and Andrew was.

_Damn, they look fierce. But looks aren't everything... I bet you anything that they're so weighed down by those weapons that they can barely stand up straight. Wouldn't do them much good in the arena._

District Three followed them, literally flashing at the crowd. The boy was in a black jumpsuit, with tiny lights affixed to it, strobing on and off in the shape of crackling electricity. The girl was in a tight black dress with the same flashing lightning on her.

This outfit drew a lot of gasps and cheers from the crowd. Anya had to admit, it was an incredible display. The flashing lights played on the Tributes faces, both of them smiling nervously but waving at the crowd.

The fourth chariot entered, and even more cheers from the crowd greeted them. The two of them were dressed in speckled blue-green outfits, the girl's dress flowing out behind her like a wave crashing on the shore.

But the most impressive part was that there was water- actual water- flowing down them and around the chariot, somehow not flowing over the sides. There were little lights in the chariot as well, illuminating the falling water in such a way that the reflections on the walls looked like an ocean. Anya couldn't even begin to imagine the precision and care required to make that kind of thing work out.

The chariot from District Five was a bit of a relief for Anya. The two Tributes were dressed in simple clothes, red and white for the girl and red and black for the boy. Nothing too spectacular, nothing amazingly extravagant... in other words, similar to what Anya's stylists had been aiming for with her and Nikolaus. At least they weren't the only ones who had thought that simple was better.

District Six was the big-chested girl, who was in a tight dress that showed off her cleavage to extreme advantage, and the tall boy who had volunteered for his brother. Both of them were in dark green, with leaves sewn onto it and long, leafy capes flowing out behind them.  
District Seven came on, also in green and with leaves.

_I see a trend here..._ Anya thought, slightly amused.

These two were considerably more extravagant than the previous two, though. A light green mist of dust flowed from behind them, falling on the ground in their wake. Where it fell, through some feat of bioengineering, plants sprang up, vines curling and waving in the air and flowers blooming, all at several times the normal rate of growth.

Within the chariot itself, the two Tributes clutched a staff in their right hand, staffs made of still-living wood, with branches and leaves vibrantly green all up and down its length.

The whole Father Nature look was great on the male, who fit the part perfectly. The female Tribute, on the other hand,- Fiore, Anya thought her name was- was gazing off into the distance, a detached expression on her face, like she didn't know exactly what she was doing there.

_Three more, counting this one_, Anya thought as the District Eight chariot came in. _Three more and I'll be the one going out there._

The tall, good-looking boy and the short, petrified twelve-year-old made an odd couple, but the stylists had managed to make them match. Both of them wore deep, indigo blue outfits- a skirt and shirt for her, and a suit for him. Both of the outfits were incredibly intricate, making use of just about every technique known to tailors. Not, of course, that you could really tell that from the stands, which was why the cameras had to zoom in so far to get all the details.

Which was also why the cameras almost missed the entrance of District Nine.

The two Tributes came in, the girl practically hiding behind the boy in a futile effort to escape the all-seeing eye of the cameras. They were both all in purple, the boy in a toga-like outfit and the girl in a simple, really short dress. She kept on fiddling with the hem, trying to pull it down a bit more to cover more of her legs.

Both costumes had soft gold stitching that glimmered in the light, a subtle but elegant touch that made them both look like monarchs. This effect was further enhanced by the crown of laurel leaves that they both were wearing.

_Nice,_ Anya thought, nodding. _Wonder if they did that based on his name? I mean, I think his name is Romulus._ She had no idea what the girl's name was, though she had a vague idea that it started with a 'k'.

District Ten entered, and she realized that she was next. Both District Ten Tributes were dressed as cowboys- well, cowgirl in the female's case- with white hats and brown clothing. The girl's blonde braid was tucked up under her hat, and both of them were smiling at the crowd.

Anya's heart was pounding in her ears as the chariot started moving. Her hands started shaking and all she wanted to do was throw herself off the chariot and go hide somewhere safe until the Games were over.

Nikolaus' hand wrapped itself around hers, and gave her a comforting squeeze. Anya looked at him and smiled faintly, and then they were in the stadium, the crowd's roar making her ears hurt. She couldn't tell if they liked her costume or not, but she found that she did not really care. The only thing she could think about was getting through this without making a fool of herself or falling off the chariot and dying or something.

Behind them, the District Twelve chariot entered. Anya couldn't really see them unless she turned around, which wouldn't have been what she was supposed to do. Nikolaus was staring straight ahead, a small, fake smile on his face, and Anya was doing her best to do the same.

Had she been able to turn around, she would have seen that the District Twelve Tributes had departed from tradition a bit. Instead of the usual coal miner outfits, both of them were in black, purple, and silver. The girl was in a pretty plaid dress, purple on black, with a silver cardigan and sliver high heels, even higher than the ones Anya was wearing. The boy was in all back, with a purple cape shot through with glittering threads of silver.

The parade was over in a surprisingly short amount of time. Anya found herself back in the waiting room area, this time free to mingle with the other Tributes. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned, finding herself face to face with a red-haired girl.

"Nice dress," the District Twelve Tribute said, smiling. "Love the flowers, huh?"

Anya nodded. "Your dress is nice as well. What's your name, again?"

"Rosa. Short for Rosemarie. And you're Anya, the one who volunteered for her sister."

"Am I that unforgettable?" she asked, slighty flattered that this girl knew her name.

"Well, yeah. But I know everyone's names by now, so..."

Anya looked around, noticing that they had broken into several distinct groups. The Tributes from Districts One, Two, and Four were on one side of the room, talking amongst themselves.

_Damn Careers,_ Anya thought. At the other side of the room, the remaining Tributes were scattered around, forming small groups and talking, rather like what she and Rosa were doing right now.

The District One lead stylist stuck his head in. "Everyone should probably go back to their rooms now. Training starts tomorrow, you know."

The teenagers followed him out, some grinning excitedly, coming down off the adrenaline high they had gotten from going out in fron of so many people. Anya herself was feeling a bit light-headed, and she wasn't sure she'd sleep much tonight.

_I wonder how the girls are doing..._

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. No use thinking about that right now. She had to sleep, so she could get the most out of her training tomorrow. It would be illogical to stay up worrying about things you couldn't change. Even if that was probably what most of the other Tributes were going to be doing tonight.

* * *

**Hope you liked it, review please.**


	4. Chapter 4: Training Day One

**Chapter Four is training, obviously. I might have two chapters of this and then have the scores, sound good?**  
**Switches pov a lot, and quite randomly, too.**  
**Review please.**

* * *

Chapter Five: Training

Fiore wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to be doing right now, but since this was a common state of being for her, she didn't really mind all that much. Brushing a strand of her dark brown hair out of her face, she stared at the book in front of her.

The cover read, "Common Poisonous Plants and Fungi". She was supposed to be studying it, since she was at this station in the training room, but she had decided it was more amusing to stare at it and try to telepathically absorb the information.

Or whatever, you know. It didn't matter to her.

"Hey, hey, space case!"

Fiore continued staring at the cover, noticing that it was quite shiny. She had always wondered how they made it so reflective... was it some sort of plastic type thing, perhaps?

"Hey, I'm talking to you, space case. Girl with the hair ribbons."

Fiore looked around. Since she was the only one wearing hair ribbons, it would be reasonable to conclude that whoever had been yelling in her general direction for the last minute was talking to her.

"Yeah, you," the voice continued. The owner of that voice turned out to be a brown-haired girl whose shirt was severely strained to contain her large breasts. She had a nice enough smile on her face, and Fiore couldn't help noticing that she had shapely legs, seeing as she was wearing a skirt that might have actually been a belt.

"You do know that we're supposed to be training, right?" the girl asked, frowning slightly. "I'm Zana, by the way."

"I know. Ne, how do you think they get these book covers so shiny?"

Zana blinked, slightly surprised. "I, um... have never really thought about that."

"Well, I did. Just now, ne. And I am not very good with weapons. Ne?"

"That's what training is for, space case. Dontcha have any idea what's going on?"

"No."

The expression on Zana's face was a quite clear 'what the hell?' look. Another thing that Fiore was used to.

"But, you know, rabbits are cool, ne? Because they know how to hide and are really fluffy and cute." Non sequitur alert. but if this girl wanted to talk to her, she'd better get used to this kind of thing fast.

"So... you're saying that you're like a rabbit? That's your strategy?" Zana asked, seeming willing to go with the sudden change of subject.

"Ne, if that is how you choose to interpret it." Fiore had given up on trying to explain herself to other people a long time ago, choosing instead to let them decide what she meant.

"Well, let's go try out some weapons anyways. I'll help you." And with that, Zana grabbed her hand, dragging her off to the nearest station, which happened to be spear practice.

* * *

Ferro watched Lily try and fail to block a blow from Saffron's sword. The orange haired girl seemed bored and impatient, and Ferro found himself sympathizing with her, even if she was beating up his mistress.

_Lily is so useless, I can hardly imagine her surviving more than a day in the arena without me._

Evidently Saffron thought so as well. She disarmed the blonde for the fifteenth time with a casual flick of her wrist. "No more. Your weakness is disgusting."

Oh, how long Ferro had wanted to say those words to Lily, but had been restrained by his loyalty to the Trintia family. Or, to be more precise, the higher standing his loyalty to the richest family in District One gave him.

"Ferro, did you hear what this insolent upstart said to me?" Lily's shrill voice made him wince. His mistress flounced up to him, cheeks red with exertion and embarrassment.

"My lady, I am sure that she only said it out of frustration in the face of your clearly superior talent," he replied, the lie coming smoothly and easily to his tongue. Inwardly, he found his mistress a touch revolting. Her bratty ways and self-centered outlook on life were appropriate for a mansion in District One, but here a bit more self-control was needed. It was also painfully obvious that she had never trained- or lifted a finger to do any kind of physical work, for that matter- in her life.

Slightly mollified, she grabbed his hand. "Show me how to shoot a bow and arrow, Ferro."

S_he's really stupid. It will be easy to kill her, when the time comes for that._ Even though Ferro was expected to die rather than allow harm to come to his lady, he had no qualms about slaughtering her if it would benefit him.

After all, when he won, he'd enjoy all the privileges of a victor. He wouldn't have to worry about that stuck-up bitch or her family anymore.

There was another girl already at the shooting range, a black-haired girl with olive colored skin. She was a rather good shooter, as evidenced by the three arrows in the bulls-eyes of the targets. She dropped her bow when she saw Ferro and Lily approaching, then blushed as she scrambled to pick it up.

"You can stay there," Lily said patronizingly. "I don't mind sharing the range with you." As if it was hers to begin with.

The girl shook her head,eyes on the floor. Without saying a word, she collected her arrows and went to the next station, with a tall, brown-haired boy.

Ferro tried to teach Lily how to shoot, he really did, but she was just so... so clueless, he just really couldn't do much.

After somehow managing to shoot an arrow backwards, Lily flung the bow to the ground in frustration. "I don't need weapons, anyways."

"How exactly do you reach that conclusion, my lady?"

"A pretty girl like me shouldn't lift a finger," she replied, dimpling and fluttering her eyelashes. "My loyal servants can protect me."

Well, then...

"If you say so, my lady." Ferro really wanted to tell her that he couldn't care less if she dropped dead the instant she stepped into the arena.

"Hey, you're Miss Lily Trintia, right?"

The District One Tributes turned to look at this newcomer. He was tall and muscular, with a cheerful grin on his face and a menacing light in his eyes. He looked familiar to Ferro, but just as another Tribute.

"I'm Tinder Sedenworth," the boy continued. "I wanted to show you that I'm worthy of joining the Careers."

Now Ferro remembered where he had seen this boy. It was the District Twelve kid who had volunteered before the Escort could even pull out a name from the bowl.

"What makes you think we'd accept you?" he asked, looking disdainfully at Tinder. "You're just a pathetic District Twelve kid that probably herds sheep or something."

"District Twelve is coal mining."

"Whatever," Ferro said, rolling his eyes like he just couldn't be bothered to care about what District Twelve did for a living. It hardly took much pretending, either. "Why would you want to be a Career, anyways? Wouldn't you rather hang out with your buddies from District Eleven and such?"

"Because... I wish to protect Miss Trintia here. I would give my dying breath to keep her safe from all those who might wish to harm her."

He was so obviously lying through his teeth, but Lily, gullible and naive as she was, fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

"How kind," she gushed, smiling daintily. "We would love to have such a handsome young man on our team. Consider yourself accepted, Mr. Sedenworth."

"Please, just call me Tinder." He took her hand and kissed it, looking up at her with an expression of puppy-like adoration on his face.

Ferro considered throwing up.

"See, Ferro, this boy knows how to treat me with proper respect," Lily smirked, eyes still on Tinder as he released her hand.

He restrained the urge to point out his years and years of service to her family. He had not been forced to volunteer along with Lily, he had done it out of loyalty to her.

And, if he was honest, for the glory he'd get when he won. Because he had no doubt at all about how this was going to end.

"Go practice on your own, Ferro," Lily said. "I'd like to get to know Tinder... privately."

"Whatever," Ferro replied, belatedly adding, "...my lady." He strolled over to the sword-fighting area, the one so recently vacated by Lily. He might as well get a bit of practice in, and size up the people he'd be fighting in the arena.

* * *

Rydel really wanted to jump into the water right now. The only problem being that there was no water here.

Swimming was his favorite thing, much to the annoyance of his little sister. For some reason, Delilah always got so mad whenever he skipped school or blew off work to splash around in the lake. He smiled fondly at the memories of her yelling at him for being late to dinner- and then the smile slid off his face as he remembered that he might never see Dellah or Leighton ever again.

He was filled with a sudden fury against the stupid Hunger Games, the stupid Capitol, even the stupid Escort for pulling his name out of the bowl and tearing him away from his family. It took a lot of effort to keep from picking up a knife and stabbing someone.

Which was, apparently, what those ridiculous dummies were for. There was already an orange-haired girl there, sending knife after knife thudding into the soft material that the dummy was made out of. She gave him a single, scathing glance and turned back to the knife-throwing, hurling the deadly sharp weapons with renewed vigor.

_On second thought, I guess I'll try sword fighting._

The only other person at that station was the District One Tribute, the tall, grey haired one.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Rydel asked, smiling.

"Whatever the hell you want to do."

What a jerk. Not that he should be judging people based on first impression. God knows, he could be a complete prick when he was in a bad mood. Maybe this kid had just had a bad day.

"Okay, then. I'm Rydel. Who're you, again?"

"Ferro Rete. District One Tribute."

"I see. Well, Ferro, do you want to duel me?"

"And why would I wish to duel with an incompetent wimp from District Four?"

_Hey, hey, aren't we both Careers? Aren't we supposed to be allies?_ But he didn't say that out loud, since it might have offended him."You haven't even seen me fight yet," Rydel retorted, indignation rising in his voice. "Words are great and all, but if you can't beat me you should just say so instead of insulting me."

"Very well," Ferro scowled, rolling his eyes as if he had a million better things to be doing instead of fighting Rydel, even though before he had come, the Tribute had been aimlessly swinging a sword around, chopping at this air.

They took up traditional en garde stances, facing each other. Their bare feet stuck slightly to the plastic covers of the mats they stood on as they circled, watching for a hole in the other's defences.

Somehow this had become more than just a training exercise, more than a friendly rivalry. Rydel got the feeling that Ferro was willing to kill him, right here, right now... and damn the consequences.

Which, you know, isn't exactly the best feeling to have when fighting someone with a very sharp sword.

He decided to make the first move. Sweeping to the left with the sword, he side-stepped past Ferro's defences and brought the blade up.

Ferro deflected the blow with an effortless flick of his arm and a loud clang. Rydel lifted his sword again and attacked, trying to beat down the other boy's defense through sheer force. Their swords became two silver blurs, whirring through the air with an audible shriek as the boys stepped around each other, fighting as hard as they could.

Breath coming fast and hard, and heart pounding, Rydel lunged one last time. Ferro's hand twisted with inhuman speed, and Rydel's sword dropped to the ground with a clatter.

Panting and glaring at the District One boy, Rydel bent to pick it up again.

"Enough," Ferro said. He was a touch breathless as well, and sweat dripped from his forehead, but there was a smirk on his face that would've made Rydel slap him, had he had the energy to do so. "You'll do?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're good enough to join the Careers, I suppose."

T_hat jerk- he's just trying to make it look like he was testing me all along!_ "Look, you-"

Lily appeared out of nowhere, hanging on Tinder's arm. "Ferro, you're all sweaty. You should go get changed and then come back."

"Yes, my lady. I was just about to do that." He bowed and left, whistling as he passed the guards on the door.

"Is he even allowed to just leave like that?" Tinder asked, watching the doors close behind him.

"Of course~"

Rydel stalked off, furious.

_Ferro Rete. I'll get you for this, you bastard._

* * *

"Hey, Switchblade!"

Jack Everain turned at the sound of Zana's voice. "Yes?"

She grinned, dragging a blushing, twin-tailed girl over. "This is Fiore. We wanted to work at this station. You don't mind, do you?"

"i was just about to leave anyway. See you!" Jack hurriedly backed out of the camouflage station, glad to avoid another prolonged conversation with his District partner. Not that she was a bad person, per se, just... weird. She freaked him out. The trap-building station had only one other person at it, so he wandered over there. He recognized the girl from District Ten, but he couldn't remember her name.

"I'm Jack," he introduced himself, smiling. "Can I join you here?"

"Sure!" She moved aside to make room for him. "I'm Eve, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. Do you know how to make these?" he asked, picking up some rope and squinting at the instructions on the little card next to the sticks.

"No, and I don't really want to," she replied.

He looked up, surprised. "Why's that?"

"I don't like hurting anything. People, animals..."

"Insects?"

"Not those, either."

Another strange one. Not wanting to hurt people he could sympathize with, but animals and insects were kind of pushing it. "Well, you're in the Hunger Games. Might be a bit hard to avoid hurting something at some point."

She shook her head. "I won't."

"If you say so." He wanted to roll his eyes, but thought it might offend her.

"H-hey, can we join you?"

Eve and Jack turned to see the District Three Tributes standing behind them, the ones who had had the flashing costumes the night before. Evidently they had decided to stick together.

"Sure," he replied.

"I'm Millie, and that's Servic. But he likes to be called Sparky," the girl said. "The Careers kicked us off the knife-throwing area."

Jack glanced over at the group in question. Two girls, a blonde and a red-head, were standing around talking. The three boys were actually throwing knives, but there was enough room for at least five more people.

"They're so mean," Eve said.

"I know, right?" Millie exclaimed, hands on her hips as she glared at the Careers. "It's ridiculous how they think they own this place!"

"And I hate how they're so confident that they're going to win," Jack added.

"Well, we'll just have to show them by winning, eh?" Eve said, half-joking.

An awkward silence fell over the group as they remembered that only one person of the twenty-four here could win. At least three of those right here would die, perhaps at the hands of someone else here.

Sparky was the first to break the silence. "Hey, do you need help with the traps?"

Jack glanced at the twitchy, pale boy. "You know how to make them?"

"Sure I do."

This could be a useful person to have on my side. "Show us, then."

"Okay." Sparky's hands hovered over the sticks for a moment before he picked one up. Within ten seconds he had the rope looped around the stick in the shape of a noose.

"Not bad," Millie said.

"It's great," Eve added.

"Th-thanks." He seemed embarrassed at the praise, and Jack smiled.

* * *

"Hey, I'm Romulus. You look lost."

Cristina Valentina looked up at the tall boy in front of her. "I, um... I dunno what I'm supposed to be doing right now," she mumbled, blushing.

"Aw, too bad. Need some help?"

"Sure..." Cristina thought that the boy looked nice enough, and he certainly smiled a lot. He reminded her of Perrin, the boy back home that she'd secretly had a crush on for about a year.

"Okay. What are you good at, in terms of weapons?"

"My older sister taught me how to use a bow and arrow." Before, you know, she died two years ago in the Hunger Games. Elizabeth Valentina had been fifteen when she was killed by someone she had thought was an ally.

"Let's start with that, then. Always play up your strengths, right?" Romulus grabbed her hand and led her to the shooting range. A shiver went down her spine when they touched, and a warm feeling spread up her arm as she followed him over.

_He's so tall... and handsome... and he's really nice._

Cristina decided that she wanted Romulus as an ally. A brief fantasy played out in her head: after an amazing battle with the Careers, she somehow saved him from the enemy and nursed him back to health (because he had gotten a terrible wound defending her, obviously). Upon waking, Romulus would profess his love for her and kiss her under the full moon, with stars overhead and leaves falling softly all around.

Of course, after that all they had to do was win the Hunger Games. But love conquered all, right? And then they'd go back to District Eight- or Nine, if Romulus wanted- and raise a family. Have cute babies and go for walks on the beach at sunset.

_Romulus Pace. It's a nice name._

_Cristina Pace sounds nice too, huh?_

* * *

"Shouldn't we be training?" Julia giggled as Leo pulled her into a dark and shadowy corner behind the weapons rack.

"Shhh," he whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "You don't want us to get caught, do you?"

"Make me be quiet," she teased. He pressed his lips against hers, effectively keeping her from speaking.

"How's that?" he asked when they came up for air.

"Fine." She looked up at him, a shadow of worry falling across her face.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm afraid, Leo. What are we going to do in the arena?"

He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. "We'll be fine. We're in love, after all, and I promise we'll get married once we're back home. We'll get back, somehow. We'll figure out a way."

"Okay," she replied, leaning into him.

Neither of them said it out loud, but both of them knew what the other was thinking. There was no way both of them would get out of the Games alive. In fact, the chances of either of them surviving very long were virtually nil.

But both of them were willing to sacrifice everything, up to and including their life, to keep the other safe and alive, even if it was only for a few more minutes.

"I'll protect you, Julia. I promise."

* * *

**And... end. Chapter Five is next, ne?**

**Hope ya liked it, review or DIE.**


	5. Chapter 5: Training Day Two

**And... more training. Last day.**

**You know the deal, R/R**

* * *

_Last of training. Last chance to convince Ferro I'm worth it_. Lily, Rydel, Saffron, and Andrew had accepted Tinder as a member of the Careers, despite the fact that he came from District Twelve, but the grey-haired boy had yet to be convinced. Tinder knew that it was important to get Ferro's approval, since he was one of the fiercest Careers.

He checked himself in the mirror. Hair brushed? Check. Shirt on right way out? Check. Teeth brushed? Check.

_I'm ready._ He stepped out of his room, closing the door softly behind him. The Careers were already down there, no doubt, but most of the other Tributes should be asleep.

"You're still with the Careers, I see."

Tinder whirled at the voice of his fellow District Tribute. "Rosa... I thought you were still sleeping."

"You wish." She was leaning against the wall, arms folded and a scowl on her face. "I wanted to remind you that what you're doing is a betrayal of all the suffering our people have endured."

"Our people? I'm not allying myself with weaklings. I'm a Career now."

"I can see that," she replied scornfully. "Well, I tried. I may as well accompany you to the Training Room. I'll need all my strength to kill you."

"You really think you can kill me?" Tinder grunted in amusement as they set off down the stairs. "Please. I could crush you like a fly."

"Shows what you know." Rosa tossed her brilliantly red hair back over one shoulder, rolling her eyes.

To Tinder's surprise, the Careers were not the only ones in the Training room. At least six random people were there as well, swinging from the long rope hanging from the ceiling or playing around with the swords.

Ignoring the glare she was still giving him, Tinder made his way over to the Careers.

"Hey," Rydel greeted him. The blonde boy had been friendly to Tinder, and the District Twelve boy had seen him in action enough to know that this was a formidable person to have on your side.

But nothing compared to Ferro, who was the unofficial leader of this group. Which was why Tinder so desperately needed his approval.

"Tinder!" Lily called, waving him over. Putting on his obedient puppy face, he came over, bowing to him. She let him take her hand and kiss it, simpering and blushing.

"You simply must stay here and talk to me," she continued.

He shook his head, doing his best to look as if he actually wanted to. "I regret that I must train, my lady. I must be as strong as possible in order to keep any harm from coming to your beautiful self."

She accepted this excuse with a tiny pout. Tinder bowed again, then left, regretting the need to be such a suck-up to that rich, spoiled brat. But it was necessary if he wanted to keep his spot in the Career group.

He lifted a sword, feeling its weight in his hands. Then he put it back, since he'd practiced with it the day before.

Perhaps a non-combat station today... camouflage, perhaps. Though that might reinforce the idea that District Twelvers were useless at fighting and were only good at hiding like cowards from the stronger people like the Careers.

He decided that it never hurt to do something like rope-climbing.

There was a girl already on the rope, the one from District Three. Tinder crossed his arms and squinted up, watching her struggle past the half-way point.

"Oh, look," came a drawling voice from behind him. "A weakling."

Tinder turned to see Ferro standing behind him. The grey-haired boy had appeared out of nowhere, and he was carrying a sword.

"Hi, Ferro."

The District One boy ignored his greeting. "Let's have some fun. Shake the rope, Twelve."

"What?" Tinder frowned, unsure he had heard the boy right.

"Shake the rope so she falls. Are you so stupid that you can't understand basic language?"

He stared at Ferro. "Are you serious?"

"Do you want to be part of the Careers, or are you so weak that you can't hurt a pathetic girl like her?"

_So this is a test?_

Hesitating for only a second, Tinder's hands closed around the rope. He felt the rough fibers under his fingers, as he looked up at the girl. He was fairly sure her name was Millie.

He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, then pulled on the rope as hard as he could. A shriek came from overhead as the girl's grip slipped.

"Stop it!" she cried, clinging to the swinging rope.

"Don't stop," Ferro ordered, stifling a yawn. "Pull harder."

Tinder considered dropping the rope and doing something like punching that jerk in the face, but he was committed now. Besides, once they were in the arena that girl would die anyways, right? And if he wanted to survive, he'd have to stick with the strongest group... and that was the Careers... right?

"Hey, s-stop that!"

Tinder turned to look at the boy who had come up behind them, still holding onto the rope.

"What's your problem?" Ferro asked, reaching up and giving the rope a tug. The girl screamed again, slipping a bit further down the rope. At this point a small crowd had gathered, but none of them had said anything yet.

And now here was a pale, twitching boy, glaring at the two Careers who were about twice his side.

"That's not n-nice, you... you..."

"Yes?" Ferro seemed to be enjoying how uncomfortable the boy was.

"Look, he's right," said another girl. It was the one from District Eleven, the one who had volunteered for her sister.

Ferro grinned and motioned for Tinder to let go of the rope. "Very well, if you insist. Though I'm only doing it since you're so cute."

She glared at the District One boy as Tinder followed him back to the other Careers, secretly glad that he had gotten out of there.

* * *

"Hey, are you alright?"

Millie wiped her sweaty hands on her shorts, then looked up at Servic. "Yeah. But my heart is pounding. My god... I thought I was literally going to die."

"That jerk," Servic muttered.

"Thanks for standing up for me, Sparky."

"Y-you're welcome." Inwardly Servic cursed his awkwardness. His stammer always came out just when he didn't want it to... like when he was talking to a girl or if he was in front of a lot of people.

"Where do you want to go next?" Millie asked, then grinned. "I know, how about the bow and arrows station?"

Servic nodded and followed her to the archery range, watching her bright green eyes flash with amusement as she said something he couldn't quite hear. they were the same green eyes that, only minutes before, he had seen wide with fear when she'd been dangling from that rope, twenty feet above the ground, unable to move for fear of falling.

He wasn't sure, even now, why he'd stepped forward to try and help her. So far, he'd tried to stay under the Careers' radar, doing a good but not stellar job in most of the training that he had done so far. But seeing his fellow District Tribute being harassed like that by the Careers, and even worse, seeing how no one else had dared to stand up to them- something in him had compelled him to say something.

"Hey, are you any good at this?" Millie's voice interrupted his thoughts. Servic shrugged, taking the bow and an arrow from her hands.

"Not very. But you can show me," he told her, proud of himself for keeping his voice steady.

"All right," Millie replied. She plucked an arrow from the bundle at her side and showed Servic how to fit it to the string. "Pull back, like this, and..."

The arrow flew through the air, thudding into the target.

"Bulls-eye!" she cheered, handing him the bow. "You try, Sparky."

The bow felt large and awkward in his shaky hands. He fit the arrow to the string and drew it back, just like she'd shown him, trying to hide the fact that it made his arms ache to bend the bow. Squinting at the red-and-white target twenty-five feet away, he let go of the string.

The arrow whistled through the air, nicking the edge of the target and bouncing off the wall behind it with barely enough force to chip the paint.

"..."

"...maybe a bit of practice, eh?" Millie grinned, throwing her arm around his shoulder.

Servic nodded, bending down to pick up another arrow.

"Hey, hey, hold on!" Millie sounded concerned. "You're bleeding!" She reached out and touched the side of his neck, her pale fingers coming away bloody.

"I guess I am." He felt the side of his neck. "Must be from the string, when I let it go. It must've hit my neck."

"And you didn't feel anything?" she asked, incredulous.

"No, I didn't." He took a deep breath, trying to act like it was completely natural.

"Why?"

"... well, I can't feel pain. Or anything, for that matter."

"..."

From the expression on her face, she seemed to want a more detailed explanation. "It's like this. I was orphaned when I was young, and the District Three scientists adopted me as a test subject. They did all sorts of experiments on the human nervous system and electricity, and the end result was me. My nerves can't send the signals that my brain would interpret as pain."

"I... I see. I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's really a good thing! I mean, it's an advantage if you can't feel pain, if you get injured or something." If you ignored the fact that pain was what told you that you were injured so that you could stop a bleeding artery or something, yeah. But he didn't want to worry Millie. "Besides, some of the scientists there were really nice! Dr. McCoy especially took care of me. He gave me this before I left."

He showed her the copper wire bracelet on his wrist. "Nice," she said, touching it. "Copper conducts electricity really well, right?"

"Yeah!" He grinned, looking at her with a happy expression on his face. It was nice to have a friend to talk to, especially now, when they were about to be launched into the arena and kill each other.

"Wanna practice some more?" she asked, letting go of his bracelet and picking up a bow.

"Sure."

* * *

_"Useless brat."_

_She could feel her father's hot breath on her face as he pulled her closer, hands mercilessly tightening around her throat. Choking and scrabbling feebly at his fingers, she felt a light-headedness stealing over her. Dark spots began to obscure her vision as she fought for breath._

_Suddenly his grip loosened and she fell to her hands and knees on the floor, coughing. Wincing, she looked up at her father, who was looming over her with his belt in his hand._

_She closed her eyes, knowing what was coming, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop him._

_Whak!_

_The first blow landed across her back, making her whimper softly at the sudden, blazing pain. The second one quickly followed, leaving a stinging red welt across the back of her exposed legs._

_She curled up in a protective ball, squeezing her eyes shut as blow after blow rained down on her, as each individual burst of pain melded together into one, unending, agonizing ache up and down her body._

_"You're a useless brat who can't do anything right," he continued, laying down the belt. "Aren't you?"_

_She knew she shouldn't, but the words came out anyway. "I didn't do anything wrong."_

_"Didn't you? We'll have to see if you change your mind, eh?" A threatening note entered his voice as he squatted down next to her. She shivered, trying to move away, but her battered body wouldn't respond to the terrified commands that her brain was sending it to run away, fight back, anything except just lie there and wait for it to happen._

_And his hands were on her, sweaty and hot, shoving her harder against the hard, cold floor, wandering places that no father's hands had any right to be. She wanted to scream, to move away, but all she did was close her eyes as his hands slid up her legs, circled her inner legs, caressed her inner thighs..._

Kyla Sprit sat bolt upright in bed, mouth half-open in terror, a scream rising to her lips. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings.

_Where-?_

She looked around, her surroundings lit by the morning light. Ah, right. The Capitol.

Glancing at the clock, she realized that she'd slept longer than she'd planned. Everyone else was probably already down in the Training Room already.

She shoved her blankets aside and yawned. Instinctively, her hand fluttered over a spot next to her pillow. A burst of panic when she didn't feel her brother's familiar head- and then she remembered.

Bentley, poor two-year-old Bentley, her brother, was miles away. He couldn't crawl into her bed after a bad dream, he wasn't there to comfort and be comforted by Kyla.

Sleeping alone, without the comforting presence of that dark-haired, red-cheeked little boy... the bed felt colder, the silence more oppressive. Every night, she and Bentley had held each other, crying into each other, until they had no more tears, so they'd be strong enough to face the next day and whatever their father did to them.

_I hope he's alright. I hope Dad hasn't-_

She cut this thought off before she could finish it. It wouldn't help her or Bentley if she just stood around worrying. The best thing to do was to go down and train, so she had a better chance at winning the Games and going home to her brother.

Slipping out of the luxurious silk nightgown they'd given her, she put on the first thing she pulled out of the closet. It happened to be an all-black set, with a silvery belt.

She hurried downstairs, almost running into a sweaty, grey-haired boy who glared at her.

"Watch where you're going, Nine."

She flinched and continued down the stairs, trying to calm down.

_You're going to be fine. Just concentrate on one thing at at time._

_Otherwise it'll all overwhelm you._

* * *

A lot of the girls here were cute, but Fleece couldn't stop staring at one in particular.

Oh, he knew that he was supposed to be training. He knew that he needed a lot of work before he even had a chance at surviving past the bloodbath. He knew that, since he wasn't stupid.

So why could he not stop staring at that redhead from District Twelve? It was really weird. He hadn't even ever talked to her.

He shook his head, muttering to himself under his breath. _Concentrate, man. Get ahold of yourself, for heaven's sake._

There were three girls at the camouflage station. It would be good to practice flirting with them. After all, it never hurt to have a few girls following him around like puppy dogs.

"Hey, I'm Fleece. How are you?"

The girl with the twintails looked up. "You are the sheep guy, ne?"

"E-excuse me?" he asked, frowning.

"Fleece. Like sheep wool, ne?"

"..."

"Ah, Fiore, you're so blunt~" one of the other girls said, grinning. She was wearing a very low cut shirt, and it was clearly showcasing her generous bust. But Fleece had never gone for girls with large chests. The weirdo who had spoken to him first was more his style.

"This is getting crowded," the third girl said softly. "I'll move, okay?"

Zana nodded. "Go ahead!" To Fleece, she said, "That's Avi. Really nice girl, you know!"

"Yeah. Okay." He dismissively turned his back on her and spoke to the other girl... Fiore, that was what Zana had called her, right?

"Hello," she said expressionlessly.

"Hello. Do you want to show me how to do this? And maybe after we can talk in a bit more... private location." He glanced pointedly at Zana when he said this, doing his sideways-smile thing at Fiore that one of his previous girlfriends had called 'hypnotizing'.

"You are flirting with me, ne?"

"..."

"I like girls."

"..."

Zana snickered. "Burn..."

_Well, that failed._ Fleece grinned good-naturedly, trying to act like he wasn't embarrassed at all. "Well, okay, then. I'll, um... go now, if you don't want me here."

He left, trying to ignore Zana's giggles._ Damn..._

* * *

**Oh, by the way, if you review your Tribute might last longer~**


	6. Chapter 6: Judging

**Time for the judging! I'm trying to get everyone's point of view in before they enter the arena, which is why you may not be seeing much of your character, if they had a major part earlier. But I promise you'll see them all again soon, once all the minor characters (from those who don't review, ahaha...) start dying~**

**As always, review.**

* * *

Andrew Clanculum flexed his shoulders, watching through the window as the District One boy strode into the judging area. The panel of Game-makers lounged at the table, food and drink piled in front of them.

The grey-haired boy put on a rather impressive display, hefting a giant axe and throwing it across the room hard enough to shake the wall it was embedded in.

After a few more feats of great strength, the boy was done. He had all the arrogance and superiority that all the Careers were full of, like he knew that he couldn't possibly lose the Games. Ferro Rete was probably perfectly willing to kill every single one of the twenty-three other tributes with his bare hands, if need be.

Andrew, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

He knew that he had set a few people wondering when he had refused to train with the Careers, instead opting to practice alone or with some of the Tributes from lower Districts, an unprecedented action for someone from District Two.

His District partner, Saffron, certainly hadn't understood. Not that he had cared much about her opinion of his choices. She was irrelevant, as were all of the rest of the Careers.

The District One girl entered, blonde hair neatly pulled back into a high ponytail. She made a rather pathetic attempt at shooting a target with a bow and arrow, then spent the rest of her allotted time talking amiably to the bored looking Game-makers.

One of the Game-makers snickered as she left, obviously not intending to give her a very high score. She seemed very pissed off by this, stalking off and muttering under her breath before stamping her foot like a spoiled two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.

_How immature._

And now it was his turn. He sauntered into the room, projecting confidence as best as he could. He picked up a sword and twirled it in one hand before bending to pick up a chunk of wood from the floor. Tossing it casually into the air, he swung the sword.

Snik!

The blade cut through the wood like a hot knife through butter. The Game-makers nodded in approval, whispering amongst themselves. Of course, they had no idea that he had placed that piece of wood there deliberately, one that was rotten practically to the core. Not that he had doubted his ability to impress them, but it never hurt to have an advantage.

From there he proceeded to display a few of his other talents, namely shooting an arrow hard enough to punch through the target, and balancing on top of a bar. Thirty feet off the ground. Yep, he was just that epic.

One of the Game-makers gave him a smile as he left. On his way out, he smirked in the District One boy's direction, pleased that he had probably gotten a higher score than that stupid Career.

Saffron passed him on her way in, staring at him. "If you're so great, why don't you join the Careers?"

He rolled his eyes, not even bothering to respond.

The girl didn't do all that badly. Which for a Career, was kind of expected... but still. She might make for a more formidable enemy. Andrew was sure that he could outwit the District One Tributes, and most of the others were weak.

The pale, twitchy boy from District Three went in, and proceeded to construct a trap in about ten seconds flat. Which was rather impressive, in Andrew's opinion, but since that was all he did he wasn't likely to get a very high score.

_Though, if I were to ally myself with anyone from a lower District, I might pick him. Certainly he'd be easy to get rid of when he loses his usefulness._

Andrew stared at the boy with a calculating light in his eyes as Servic came back in. Then he felt someone else's eyes on him.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the District Three girl glaring at him, as if she'd known what he was thinking. Her green eyes met his and he felt her animosity from clear across the room.

_...what's her problem?_

Though she was rather cute. He had to grant her that much. In fact, had they not been in the Hunger Games, he might have been interested in her.

But this wasn't the place or the time for that kind of nonsense, he reminded himself. Chances were he would have to kill that girl himself.

_After all, I am going to win this. There's no other way this could turn out._

The girl- Millie, he was fairly sure- went in, immediately picking up a bow and stringing an arrow to it. He watched as she lined up with the target, squinting along the arrow for an instant before letting go, sending the arrow across the room and into the target.

It wasn't hard to start zoning out as the remaining Districts went up... though some of them were a bit interesting. Like the District Six girl, who spent her whole time jumping on a trampoline in the corner, making her chest bounce up and down, up and down...

Andrew yawned, not even bothering to hide his boredom.

* * *

"Hey, hey, Walter!"

The tall boy turned to face his District partner, smiling slightly. "Yes?"

"Ne, what are you going to do? I do not know what I should do."

Walter shrugged. "Whatever you want, Fiore. I was going to do a spear-throwing thing. Maybe you should tell them about the stuff you were reading about earlier."

"Good idea."

Zana came back in and nodded to Walter. "Your turn, big guy."

He went in, calm but not very confident. He didn't expect to get a very high score here, but he also knew that it was important to act like he thought he would. If the Game-makers thought that he was a level-headed, serene individual, they would give him a higher score.

"Hello," he said, because it never hurt to be polite. He then turned to the rack of weapons and selected a heavy throwing spear. Testing its balance in his hand, he went to the archery range, since it had the only targets in the room.

He hefted it and threw, lunging forward and following through with his arm. The spear thudded into the target with a satisfying noise.

Since he really wasn't good at much else, he threw spears for the rest of his time there.

"Good luck," he muttered to Fiore as she passed him on her way in. She nodded, a serious expression on her face.

She walked in and faced the Game-makers. "A fungus; (plural: fungi or funguses) is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds (British English: moulds), as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria. One major difference is that fungal cells have cell walls that contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, which contain cellulose. These and other differences show that the fungi..."

_My god, she took my suggestion literally. _Walter felt his face flushing as the other Tributes snickered. Though it was impressive that she remembered that word for word. But he couldn't believe that she had actually done that.

Fiore came back in, not seeming very embarrassed. The District Eight boy went in, then the District Eight girl. Neither did an outstanding job, but Walter did notice that the boy was quite good at knife throwing.

Fiore looked at him, a small frown on her lips. "Ne, did I do alright?"

"Yeah," he lied, forcing a smile. "I bet you get a really high score."

"You're a terrible liar," she said matter-of-factly, without any kind of change of tone, so it took him a few seconds to fully process what she had said.

"..."

"People do that I lot when I talk, ne?"

"..."

"See?"

* * *

Romulus sighed, straightening his t-shirt nervously before stepping into the judging area. "Hello..."

None of the Game-makers reacted at all. He bent down and picked up a sword, kind of pissed off at being ignored but trying to make the best of it.

"So, I was wondering, what do you think of cats?" He twirled the sword in one hand as he continued, "I mean, I've always loved them. They're so soft and cuddly. Like my little sister. Oh yeah, I have a little sister. She's five years old. Her name is Astris, and that's Latin for 'star', like how my name is one of the founders of Rome."

One of the Game-makers rolled his eyes. Romulus had found that babbling apparently aimlessly was a good way to get people to like him, though it didn't really seem to be working this time.

Ah, well.

"Astris once told me something really smart. She said that if someone doesn't listen to you, you should just slap them. I mean, my mom didn't really approve of that, but I thought it was great."

Romulus twirled the sword again, frowning thoughtfully. "Since I can't slap you from here, I suppose that I'll have to be content with this."

He threw the sword at the table, sending it skidding over the top, plates flying and cups toppling, spilling over several shocked Game-makers.

"Well, that's all," he said, yawning and stretching. "Hope you have a good day, and a great life!"

"You are so going to pay for that," Zana said as he came back in.

"Whatever." Romulus sat down and fell asleep.

* * *

Lysander glanced through the window, then did a double take. Hadn't the District Nine girl gone in awhile ago? Where was she? He couldn't see her anywhere.

The Game-makers were apparently wondering the same thing. One of them was frowning with annoyance, glancing around.

"Has the girl come in yet?" he asked the woman next to him.

"I don't think so..."

"If she isn't here in four minutes we'll declare her time up and give her a zero," one of the others said.

Lysander hadn't seen the shy girl doing much in training, but he couldn't help but worry about her. If she got a zero, no one would want to sponsor her. If no one sponsored her... her chances of surviving went way down.

The four minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness. By this point, every one of the Tributes were standing by the window, staring down at the room, whispering amongst themselves.

_Where is she?_

One of the Game-makers stood up. "Enough. Send the next one in."

Lysander froze, realizing that this meant him. But before he could go in, one of the shadows by the door moved.

Kyla stepped away from the wall, revealing her elaborate camouflage. She had somehow painted her body, clothes and all, to match the wall behind her so thoroughly that no one, including the Game-makers had seen her.

Lysander was very impressed.

"Here I am," she said softly. "That's all I wanted to show you." And with that she turned and left, not looking back once to see how the Game-makers reacted.

He realized that Kyla's quiet show of defiance was just as powerful as Romulus's epic sword-throwing demonstration. Lysander knew that there was no way that he could pass that kind of display, but he also admired the girl's bravery.

_This should be an interesting Game, this year. Not that I have any kind of a chance at winning._

He went in, glancing back at the girl still standing by the door. He smiled at Kyla, and the smile that she gave in return made something in him thrill.

_I want to see her smile more, _he decided.

* * *

Rosa glared at Tinder as he went in. _Traitor. Stupid traitor. Doesn't he realize that he's aiding the enemy?_

She had to admit, though, that he was quite good with those weapons. He definitely had the skill set to fit in with the Careers. But just because he could do something didn't mean that he should. After all, the Careers had a history of killing District Twelve Careers left and right, not even pausing or showing any kind of mercy.

_Maybe that's why I hate what he's doing so much, because I've never really thought of the Careers as anything except monsters. But seeing him join them, someone that I'm not close to but I have seen... in the market, with his mom, with his friends..._

_He is human. But he's also a traitor._

_And he wouldn't hesitate to kill me or anyone else that got in his way to the top._

She realized that Tinder had finished and that she had to go in now.

And she also realized that she didn't really know what she should do.

But, you know, it didn't really matter if she got a low score. So long as she survived longer than Tinder in the arena, she would be happy. It would prove that being a Career didn't mean anything, and that being a traitor never paid off.

_I hate you, Tinder._

She picked up a bow, deciding that the classic way was the best way to go. She was good with a bow, anyways, so as long as she didn't do anything stupid she should be able to scrape by with a six or seven.

None of the Game-makers seemed too impressed, which Rosa hadn't expected anyway.

She went back into the room with all the other Tributes, brushing her bright red hair out of her face.

"How do you think you did?" the District Eight boy... Fleece, right, asked her.

"Eh... not well..." She shrugged. "But I kinda expected that."

He smiled. "I bet you did really well. You're way better with that bow than I could ever be~"

"Thanks."

They sat there in silence for a bit longer. Then one of the Game-makers led them to another room. "You will now be told your training scores. District One will be announced first, then Two, and so on and so forth."

Rosa rolled her eyes. _They must think we're really stupid..._

"Ferro Rete, District One: eleven."

Eleven. Almost perfect. They'd probably taken off points because he was coming off as a dumb jock at this point. Which, in Rosa's opinion, was true of most Careers. They were all so Game-centered, emphasizing physical fitness as the paradigm of perfection.

"Lily Trintia, District One: six."

Oh, ouch. And she was a Career, too.

"Andrew Clanculum, District Two: eleven."

That caused a few mutterings. Well, the boy had rather departed from tradition by not practicing with the Careers, and if he was good enough to get an almost perfect score...

"Saffron Jelikson, District Two: ten. Servic Gearwhir, District Three: five. Millienna Roberts, District Three: seven."

Well, Saffron's score was normal for a Career, and Servic hadn't seemed too strong in practice. Millie didn't get that bad of a score, considering the fact that she was kind of a weakling.

"Rydel Dewleaf, District Four: nine."

Another Career, another high score. Obviously.

"Averi Mireault, District Four: eight. Leonard Cryonars, District Five: four. Julia Rikerson, District Five: five. Jack Everain, District Six: nine."

Well, Switchblade hadn't done too badly. But it was a strange nickname... and he wouldn't tell anyone why he was called that...

"Zana Listal, District Six: five."

Since she had spent her whole time bouncing on a trampoline in the corner, it wasn't a bad score. Perhaps her large... parts made some of the male Game-makers more sympathetic.

"Walter Redwoods, District Seven: seven. Fiore Arcase, District Seven: six. Fleece Winnower, District Eight: seven. Cristina Valentina, District Eight: two."

Oh, ouch. That was a really low score.

"Romulus Pace, District Nine: eight."

Even though he had thrown a sword at the Game-makers, they had given him a surprisingly high score.

"Kyla Sprit, District Nine: five."

Maybe they were more annoyed at her hiding. In Rosa's opinion, what Kyla had done- camouflaging herself so well like that... it was kind of epic.

"Lysander Hastings, District Ten: seven. Eve Epstien, District Ten: five."

Not bad. Rosa yawned, glancing over at Tinder. _Wonder what he got..._

"Nikolaus Hendricks, District Eleven: eight. Driania Deelastani, District Eleven: nine."

For a second, Rosa couldn't figure out who Driania was. Then she remembered that it was Anya... who apparently liked going by the shortened version of her middle name, Anastasia. Well, if she had had a name like Driania, she would have changed it too.

"Tinder Sedenworth, District Twelve..."

Dramatic pause.

"...twelve."

Holy crap. A perfect score.

"Rosemarie Mariosta, District Twelve: six."

Only half of Tinder's score. Not that she cared.

"Well, that's all for the scores." The Game-makers stood up and left.

* * *

**Interviews are next, I suppose...  
Here are the scores just to make it more clear:  
REVIEW OR DIE.  
Ferro- 11  
Lily- 6  
Andrew- 11  
Saffron- 10  
Servic- 5  
Millie- 7  
Rydel- 9  
Avi- 8  
Leo- 4  
Julia- 5  
Jack- 9  
Zana- 5  
Walter- 7  
Fiore- 6  
Fleece- 7  
Cristina- 2  
Romulus- 8  
Kyla- 5  
Lysander- 7  
Eve- 5  
Niko- 8  
Anya- 9  
Tinder- 12  
Rosa- 6**


	7. Chapter 7: Interviews

**Interviewing time! Yay...? Since this Hunger Game takes place twenty-five years after the one in the book, there are all new interviewers and announcers and all that. And a new president, due to the events of the third book. If you haven't read the books you really should. But I won't really be mentioning anyone except the Tributes anyways, so...**

**Review please.**

* * *

Millie fiddled with the hem of her dress nervously, trying to to dwell too much on the fact that in just a few minutes she would be in front of everyone in Panem, on TV, for heavens sake, being interviewed.

Her stylists had, once again, done an amazing job with her costume. It was a short, sparkly silver dress with thin black threads running through it, like lightning. It was pretty much the opposite of her parade outfit (which had been that really cool flashing jumpsuit), and Servic- or Sparky, as she called him- was dressed the same way (only not with a dress, that would be weird. He had a suit.)

Her fellow District Tribute was shy, but a really nice person once you made the effort to get past his twitching and general social awkwardness. Millie rather got the impression that no one- besides this doctor he had mentioned- had ever made that effort.

She glanced in the mirror, brushing a bit of hair back. Sparky had really become her only friend here. Even though they were probably both going to die, he hadn't acted like she was a threat or an enemy. All he'd done was talk to her, laugh at her jokes, and helped her make traps.

Involuntarily, her mind wandered to her boyfriend back home, Derek Tominson. What would he say if he knew how close she and Sparky had gotten? She didn't think of her fellow Tribute like that, but you never knew...

Sure, the pale, short boy was nothing like tall, blonde Derik. But there was something about how vulnerable and honest he was that made her want to take care of him, to hold him close and feel him close to her.

"You ready?" Her stylist, Lissa, stuck her head in. "You look great!"

"Thanks..." Millie followed her out, not quite as nervous as she had been a few minutes ago. After all, the interviews were nothing. The real problem would be in the arena.

"H-hey, Millie."

"Sparky!" She hugged him, then held him at arms-length, looking at his outfit. "You look great! Are you nervous?"

"Y-yes..."

"Don't worry, you'll be great~" she grinned.

"Come on!" Lissa exclaimed, pulling on their arms. "You can't be late!"

"Indeed we can't," Sparky agreed, taking Millie's arm. "May I?"

"Of course." She blinked, surprised at his sudden confidence, but she let him take her arm and escort her down the stairs.

The first interview was, of course, the boy from District One, the one that had been such a jerk to her in the training room. He was dressed in a blood-red suit with silver roses embroidered all up and down it, accompanied as usual by the girl. Lily was in a similar outfit, a red dress with a sweeping skirt and a rose in her hair.

The Tributes all gathered in a room off of the interviewing area. Ferro was called in and he sat in the chair like it was a throne, smirking.

The interviewer, Dayton Ward, launched right into it. "So, Ferro Rete. You made quite a few people wonder when you volunteered along with your lady. What was your reasoning behind that?"

Ferro's smirk widened. "She told me I had to. To protect her, you know."

"And if the circumstances call for it, you will die for her?"

"No."

Well, that made Lily gasp. Millie glanced over at the blonde with a rush of satisfaction. Now she was just as defenseless as everyone else was.

"Why not?" The interviewer pretended to be surprised, even though everyone knew that he didn't really care.

"I plan on winning these Games," Ferro replied calmly. "And I am absolutely sure that I will. After all, who can beat me here?"

_Jerk,_ Millie thought. _What a stuck-up idiot._

"Well, then, tell us more about your strategy in the arena."

"Can't do that," Ferro replied. "It would spoil the surprise."

Millie rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the rest of Ferro's interview. She did, however, pay attention when Lily went on-stage.

"Hello, Ms. Trintia. How are you?"

The blonde girl pouted. "Ferro said he would protect me, before we came here. I thought... I thought I could trust him!" She burst into tears, obviously going for the pity angle. Millie had to admit that it might work: she still looked pretty, even when she was crying. Lily was probably depending on kind people sponsoring her to get through the Games.

Ferro rolled his eyes, and Millie couldn't help but sympathize, even a bit, with him. Having to deal with that brat day in and day out... it must have been terrible.

Not, of course, that that made Ferro any better of a person. He was still a heartless jerk and a bully.

Lily came offstage, mysteriously dry-eyed within five seconds. Andrew went onstage, and Millie frowned. The dark-haired boy was a mystery to her. On the one hand, he was from District Two, yet didn't practice with the Careers. That in and of itself was quite impressive. But at the same time, there was something strange about him. Millie got the impression that he was cold and calculating under that calm exterior. And if she was quite honest with herself, he scared her more than a little bit.

"Andrew Clanculum! How are you tonight?"

"I am sufficiently well. Thank you for inquiring."

"...so, you got a high score in training, didn't you? An eleven, am I right?"

"You are correct. I did get an eleven."

"What was your secret?"

"Practice, perhaps." Andrew looked bored, with his arms crossed over his black tunic. The gold belt around his waist glittered in the lights as he shifted in the chair.

"Well, okay..."

Millie watched as Andrew deflected every one of the interviewer's questions easily, keeping almost everything about himself a secret. His family, his friends, his life... and it wasn't even as though he was ashamed of anything. It was more like he just couldn't be bothered to go into much detail for some stupid interview.

The District Two girl, who came next, wasn't very interesting. Even if her dress- black with a gold belt, like Andrew's tunic- was really pretty.

"Are you nervous?" she whispered to Sparky as Saffron came back.

"Yes."

"You'll be great, don't worry! Good luck!" She gave him a quick hug and he smiled in return as he turned to go.

"Hello, Servic."

"S-sparky."

"Oh, is that your nickname?" Dayton smiled. "Why that?"

"Millie- th-that's my District partner, you know..."

"Yes."

"Sh-she started calling me that, and... and, I just..."

He nodded. "Ah, yes, that's cute. So, you didn't get a very high score in training, so we don't have to talk about that, but maybe you'd like to tell us something about your family?"

He told the interviewer the same story that he had told Millie: how he had been orphaned at a very young age, how he had been adopted by the scientists, even how they had performed tests on him that made it so he couldn't feel pain. When he had been practicing what he would say with Millie a few hours ago, she had initially resisted him telling about that last part, since it might be good to keep that a secret in order to give him an advantage in the arena. He had countered this by pointing out that it might make some of the weaker Tributes stay away, which could only help.

"Well, that's all," the interviewer said, smiling at the shy, nervous boy.

Millie smoothed her dress and stepped into the glare of the lights, forcing a grin onto her face. "Hello, sir."

"Millienna Roberts! Or do you prefer Millie? Or Enna? Or Lia? Or-"

"Millie is fine," she replied with a cheerfulness she didn't feel.

"Alright, Millie. Do you want to tell us about your family?"

She shrugged. "Well, I have an older brother. Four of them, actually."

"So you're the only girl, huh?"

"Yep! Grant is closest to me, he's eighteen. Then there's Mikael and James and Lucas. And Grant makes the best pancakes ever, they taste so good... he said he'd make me some when we got back from the Reaping..." Her face fell as she realized that she probably wouldn't ever get to have those pancakes.

The interviewer seemed to know what she was thinking and smiled. "I'm sure he can make you some when you win~"

She snorted. "Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen. Right."

"Hey, never say never, right?"

Millie smiled. "Well, thanks. Is that all?" She suddenly wanted to get out of here, to go back to Sparky, and escape the scrutiny of the nation.

"Go ahead." He turned to the cameras and announced her name, like he had for the other Tributes before her. "Millie Roberts, District Three!"

* * *

Avi watched as Rydel came off-stage, beaming. The interviewer had been really easy on him, not giving him any hard questions or anything. Plus he had gotten a score of nine in the training. Plus he was a Career.

She, on the other hand, was not quite so lucky. And she was fuly expecting the worst as she entered, unable to even pretend to smile.

"Averi Mireault, right?"

"Avi's fine."

"You look nice in that outfit, Avi."

Which was a very pedophilic thing to say, considering that she was wearing a blue and white bikini top and blue denim shorts. It was not her first choice of outfit, but her stylists had wanted her to match Rydel. And Rydel, being the swimming-obsessive person he was, obviously had to wear swimming shorts. Obviously.

But she tried to take his comment as a compliment anyway, because it was always better to assume the best of people. "Thank you."

"You got a fairly good score in training, did you not? An eight, if I remember correctly."

"Yes."

"So, can you tell me what your goal is these Games?"

"Um... to survive, I guess." What kind of question was that?

"You didn't volunteer, right?"

"No. I don't think that anyone should want to go to the Hunger Games," she replied, suddenly confident. Sure, it might not be what these Capitol idiots wanted to hear, but she had wanted to say this for a long time. "The only way to win is to kill people, and I could never hurt anyone. Ever. And when you do win you have to live with the fact that you killed all those people, and that twenty-three other kids died so that you could live. And the fact that some people spend their whole lives preparing for this just... it's wrong. It really is."

The interviewer looked slightly shocked at this outburst, but just smiled and nodded. "Well, Avi, I'm sure that many people have those same sentiments. We at the Capitol-"

"Oh, don't even start! I know that all you at the Capitol look forward to these Games! You all love watching us die, don't deny it." Where was this sudden fury coming from? Avi had never spoken like this to anyone in her life, and now she was practically yelling at someone on national television.

"Ah~ well, is that all?"

She nodded, not trusting herself to not lose control if she opened her mouth.

"Well, there you go. Avi Mireault, District Four!"

She strode offstage, face flushed.

After her came the two Tributes from District Five. They were dressed as a bride and groom, though of course they didn't appear onstage together, and they were quite effusive in their declarations of love for each other.

_Aw, how sweet. And how sad, 'cause only one of them can survive this..._

This didn't stop them from making out onstage when Julia went in for her interview. This prompted cheers and whistles from the crowd, and made the girl blush.

Next up was Jack Everain, from District Six.

"So, Jack, I hear that people have been calling you Switchblade. Any particular reason for that nickname?"

"Er... um, not really. My brother always called me that, and..."

"Well, you got a nine in training, which is quite impressive. What did you do?"

He scratched his head, smiling. "I don't know... I mean, I thought about how my brother always told me that people will remember you if you do something flashy. So I climbed the rope, right? And then I took the bow that I had brought with me and slid down the rope, shooting as I went. I think I managed to get five or six arrows into the wall before I landed."

"That's quite impressive~"

"Nah, it's just a trick I learned how to do awhile ago. Nothing special, really. But it impressed the judges, so..."

"Now, you volunteered for your brother Cole, correct?"

"Yes."

"What was your reason for doing that?"

"My brother and I, we take care of a bunch of kids, and he needed to be with them more then I did. So I volunteered so he didn't have to go. Our parents died when we were younger, but there was always someone there to help us. Once we were old enough to fend for ourselves, we decided that we should do the same for any other kids that needed someone there for them. The first one we 'adopted' was Julie. She's really nice, and I hope she's doing alright-" He paused and waved at the camera. "Hey, Julie and Cole!"

The interviewer laughed. "Ah, a touching story. I'm sure that you'll be able to see them again, when you win~"

Avi yawned, looking at the boy next to her, Andrew. "I think he says that just to make them feel better."

"You just realized that?" he asked sarcastically, but his tone was light and joking.

The big-boobed girl went next.

"Hello, Zana Listal. How are you?"

"Great! Except, you know, I'm in the Hunger Games and I am totally gonna die!" She didn't seem too upset by this, since she was pretty much bouncing in her seat with excitement.

"Um..."

Avi heard Jack, who was standing next to Anya, whisper, "She does that to everyone..."

After Walter went, the girl that weirded Avi out came on.

"Hey, hey, ne?"

"Fiore Arcase."

"That is me."

"So... how are you?"

"I am fine, ne. How are you?"

"Good... so, can you tell me why you're here?"

She looked thoughtfully at him. "I know. It's kind of like a murder mystery without the murder, ne?"

"..."

"And you do that too. Everyone does that. Why do you think that is, ne?"

"..."

* * *

Eve glanced at the tiny girl who was about to go. "Good luck, Cristina!"

The light brown-haired girl nodded, straightening her blue and black costume. It had gold fringe on the cuffs and a sparkly circle on the left side of the shirt. "Yep, thanks!"

She went onstage, and struck up a conversation with the interviewer right away. Even though the twelve year old had only gotten a two in training, she had enough people skills to get enough sponsors to help.

Then the boy from District Nine came on, and Eve leaned forward. This was the boy who had thrown a sword at the Game-makers.

"Romulus Pace!"

"Hello~"

"So, I hear that you cause quite a stir yesterday during the judging. A sword, eh?"

"Ahaha... well, that was just something I decided to do since I had no idea what to do otherwise. You know. Plus I looked cool doing it!"

"Um... okay?"

Eve giggled at the confused expression on the interviewer's face. The poor guy just hadn't been having the best day today... between Romulus and Avi's outburst and Fiore's weirdness and... yeah...

The shy girl from the same District came on next, timidly sitting in the seat and smiling at the interviewer. "H-hi..."

"Hello."

The interviewer was actually quite nice, walking her through it with a surprising amount of kindness. This made Eve feel better- she had been really nervous about her own interview, but if this guy was as nice to her as he was to Kyla...

Lysander's interview seemed to go by really quickly, and before she was even really ready, it was her turn. She did not want to go, since she was dressed as a freaking rabbit, but since Lysander had been dressed as a cow...

"Hello, Eve Epstein. How are you today?"

"I'm good." She sat down carefully, wincing as the fluffy tail on her bottom was crushed.

"So... you're a rabbit?"

She blushed, reaching up and straightening one of her ridiculous grey ears. "Yeah... I don't know, my stylists thought it was a good idea."

This got a few laughs from the audience. Heartened, she smiled at them.

"You got a five in training. That isn't that bad, right?"

"It's terrible!" she said, giggling. "But I've never been good with weapons." Her stylists had told her to act as cute as possible, and so she shrugged and said, "But I've always loved rabbits, so this is a great costume for me."

"It is indeed~"

She tugged on one of the ears, pulling it down over her face, laughing again.

Most of the rest of her interview followed in a similar manner, with her being cute and the interviewer complimenting her. She left the stage feeling happy and satisfied.

* * *

Zana tilted her head to one side as Tinder went on, smiling. "He's weird."

"Ne, he is," Fiore agreed.

"But he got a perfect score."

"Ne, he did."

"Wonder why?"

"I'm sure they'll mention it, ne?"

The interviewer indicated that Tinder should sit. "Tinder Sedenworth. You're quite the unusual person, aren't you?"

"How so?"

"You're from District Twelve, yet you practiced with the Tributes from District One and Two and Four. And you got a perfect score, too, which hasn't happened very often."

He frowned. "I don't see why everyone thinks that just 'cause I'm from Twelve means that I'm some kind of weakling. I'm tired of how our Tributes always get killed right at the beginning, right? I mean, we've only once twice. So maybe I just wanted to change that."

That got a cheer or two for the audience, which was only reasonable- everyone loves an underdog.

"And your perfect score?"

"Ah, well, I've practiced a lot for a long time. I think that the Game-makers were more impressed that I was from District Twelve and was good at something other than a bow and arrows. But my little display with the sword might have done something to help~"

He had done some rather epic things with that sword. From what Zana had seen, he had set up a dozen apples on a bench, sliced them all into eighths without even nicking the wood, and then followed that by flicking the slices into the air and, one by one, slicing those in half. Between all this there had been an impressive series of blade moves, with figure-eights and other intense bladeplay.

The girl from District Twelve, Rosa, muttered something under her breath that sounded vaguely like 'traitor'. Rosa seemed to really hate Tinder, for some reason.

Zana amused herself by staring at Tinder's costume. It was all white, with coal dust streaked across it, forming the Panem seal. Rosa was in the dress-version of that, though she didn't seem too happy about the fact that she her outfit matched Tinder's.

Fiore glanced at her. "Ne, you know what?"

"...what?"

"You're cute."

"...thanks."

Fiore surprised her by throwing her arms around her in a hug. "Hey, if we meet after the bloodbath we should ally, ne?"

"Sure." Zana didn't really mind the strange girl, after all, and it was great if she had an ally. Right?

* * *

**And we are finally into the arena. Well, almost. Interviews are over, yay.**

**Last p.o.v. is in the bloodbath, then it'll start skipping randomly. Get ready for a ton of death (mwahahaha).**


	8. Chapter 8: And the Children Shall Lead

**Bloodbath time! Welcome to the arena, the Hunger Games have now really and truly begun. And about time, too. I've been looking forward to killing everyone~**

**Review.**

* * *

_It looked so much easier on TV._

Saffron stood on the disc, glancing at the faces of the other twenty-three Tributes. Most of them seemed absolutely terrified, but there were a select few that had an air of total confidence about them, like Ferro and Rydel.

_I'm going to have to kill some of them. I won't have a choice, will I?_

The countdown began, and she readied herself to run at the cornucopia the instant the cannon sounded. From what she could see, the giant golden horn was at the center of a maze, a giant maze with clear walls and grassy floor. The only way she could even tell that there was a maze there was the crackling electrical charges that outlined the tops of said maze walls.

Off in the distance, through the walls, she could see a forest. The trees and bushes formed a green blur when seen through the glass-like walls.

The cannon boomed and she launched herself off the disc, sprinting for the cornucopia. Ferro, Lily, and Rydel were already on their way there, and Tinder was close behind Saffron.

"Quick, grab something," Ferro ordered. "A weapon."

Saffron snagged the nearest thing- an axe- and turned to face the oncoming Tributes. One of them- the dark-haired with the twintails from District Seven- had already slipped in and out, grabbing a weapon and a pack.

The others saw the Careers there and slowed, glancing at each other. Ferro lunged forward, snickering when they flinched back. "Are you all so scared you can't come any closer?" he teased.

The District Six boy stepped forward, and everything erupted into chaos.

First, about five Tributes slipped past the Career's line and grabbed a pack. Rydel whirled and threw a knife at one, the girl from District Eleven, but he missed.

Saffron turned, unsure as to what she was supposed to be doing. She saw Ferro standing, holding a sword casually in his hand.

The Tributes from District Five- the ones that were dating- tried to slip past him. He reached out and, with a casual flick of his wrist, stabbed Julia right in the heart.

She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, blood spurting out of the wound. Ferro leaned on the sword, amusement plain on his face, as Leo fell to his knees next to his girlfriend.

"Julia!" He frantically grabbed her hand, then tried to close the wound with his hands, terror in his voice and panic on his face. "Oh, my god, Julia..."

She gasped as he touched her, wincing in pain. "Leo..."

"I promised I'd protect you, Julia. You'll be fine, I swear."

But even Saffron could see that he was lying. It looked like Ferro had hit an artery, and the girl didn't look like she'd last much longer in her present condition.

Julia's eyes flickered shut, and a cannon shot echoed across the arena. Leo gasped. "No!"

He shook her shoulders, but she just flopped back and forth lifelessly in his arms.

Saffron closed her eyes. _I never thought... I didn't know. I never knew that it hurt this much to watch someone die._

"Hey, thanks for the show!"

Ferro's voice made her open her eyes. The grey-haired boy was holding his sword against Leo's throat, smiling down at the District Five Tribute with a terribly smug look on his face.

"What?" Leo blinked tears out of his eyes, raising his blood-stained hands to touch the blade at his throat. "You... you k-killed her..."

"Damn right~"

Saffron glanced around. There were still people fighting all around, but she couldn't tear her attention away from the scene unfolding before her.

Leo jerked away just as Ferro stabbed, missing his throat but hitting his shoulder. Blood trickled out of the shallow wound as Leo scrambled to his feet, panting.

"You... you son of a bitch, you killed Julia!"'

Ferro stepped out of the way, shoving Leo out of the way. "Saffron, you deal with this... this scum. He isn't worth my time."

She nodded, hefting the axe. "Aye, sir." But before she could kill him, Leo slipped off, dodging her blow and picking up a knife lying nearby.

"Why should you survive, when Julia didn't?" he snarled, lunging forward in an attempt to injure Saffron. She easily avoided it, and he turned away, frustration clear on his face. His eyes fell on the nearest person, Nikolaus.

Spurred on by anger and grief, Leo grabbed Nikolaus by his shirt collar, slamming back him against the cornucopia. The District Eleven boy gasped and tried to break free, but Leo stabbed him in the chest, then in the arm, bringing the knife down again and again, face a mask of rage and tears streaming down his cheeks.

Even after the cannon sounded, Leo didn't stop stabbing until he was too tired to continue. He finally dropped the knife, sinking to his knees and staring down at his blood-stained hands.

Saffron froze. Did she have to kill him now?

* * *

Cristina had tried to just get a pack and run, but before she could do much more than close her hands around the strap, Ferro slapped the bag out of her hands.

"Going somewhere, Eight?"

She looked up at him, terrified. This was the boy who had just killed the girl from District Five. He wouldn't hesitate to kill her at all.

"P-please... I don't..."

He laughed. "Hey, Tinder, come over here."

The District Twelve boy did so without hesitation. "Yes?"

"Your turn." The grey-haired boy tossed the sword to Tinder, who caught it, surprised.

"My...?"

"Kill her."

Cristina tried to run, but Ferro grabbed her arm. "Go on, Tinder. Or are you scared?" he said tauntingly.

This made Tinder's face flash with indignation and determination. He raised the sword, and Cristina looked around frantically for someone, anyone, to help her.

Romulus stood about three yards away, a pack in his hand. He looked like he was taking advantage of the Careers' distraction and getting the hell out of there.

"Romulus!" she screamed, desperate.

He looked at her, green eyes meeting her light brown eyes. There was absolutely no remorse on his face as he turned away, hurrying into the maze.

_Romulus..._

She closed her eyes as Tinder brought the sword down.

* * *

Andrew saw the girl fall and heard the cannon boom through the glassy walls of the maze, but there wasn't much he could have done to help her. Already, he had a pack and a knife, and was several paths deep into the maze.

"Andrew!"

He turned, and saw the District Three Tributes. Millie and Servic stood there, weapons out but at their sides. Millie was the one who had called his name, and she was smiling at him. Which was... odd, considering where they were and all that.

"Yes?" he asked, hand on the hilt of his knife. He could take either of them easily, but in a confined space like this, against two of them, the odds of him being injured went up.

"You're not a Career, right?"

"No, I am not."

"Then shouldn't we not fight each other and try to take them out?"

He considered this. "That would seem to be logical."

Millie nodded and sheathed her knife. She stuck out her hand, and Andrew shook it. It never hurt to have an ally, after all, and he was confident in his ability to kill both of them in and when the circumstances called for it.

* * *

"What, you couldn't even handle a little thing like that?" Ferro's voice dripped scorn as he faced Saffron. "What do you mean, he got away?"

The orange-haired girl didn't meet his eyes. "He ran away. I couldn't stop him."

He rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic."

"He was injured," Rydel pointed out, coming up with a pack in his hand. "It didn't look like he was going to survive much longer, Ferro."

"Still. She should have just killed him." The 'him' in question was, of course, Leo. According to Saffron, he had escaped while Tinder was killing Cristina.

The Careers were the last ones left at the cornucopia. Everyone else had fled into the maze, and Ferro could still see some of them through the transparent walls.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Lily asked.

"Sure," Ferro replied. Then he turned to Saffron and slapped her across the face, hard. "That's for being a failure," he spat.

She didn't say a word, instead rubbing the red spot that was rapidly forming where he had struck her. Tinder glared at Ferro and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but apparently thought better of it.

But the District Twelve boy did smile at her, and give her a comforting pat on the shoulder when Ferro's back was turned.

* * *

Leo stumbled through the maze, banging into walls and sobbing. Tears blurred his vision until he could barely see where he was putting his feet. The wound in his shoulder throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and all he could think of was Julia's pale face, eyes closed forever.

_I couldn't protect her. I failed her._

He fell to his knees, leaning back against a wall._ Julia... I love you. I'm sorry._

Darkness was falling over the arena. He winced as he shifted around a bit, the movement sending a spike of pain through his shoulder.

_Damn Ferro. Damn that District One son of a bitch. I hope he dies next. He'd deserve it._

_No, I'll kill him. I'll get him alone and then I'll make him pay for what he did to Julia. I couldn't protect her, but I can avenge her._

Oddly enough, the pain was starting to fade. It also seemed to have gotten really dark all of a sudden. He was starting to feel dizzy, too.

_What's happening?_

A drop of something landed on his hand. He glanced down and realized that his wound was bleeding again, staining his brown shirt and dripping red onto his hand.

Suddenly weak, he struggled to keep his eyes open. _No... I can't die... I have to kill Ferro. I have to protect Julia..._

_I couldn't protect her._

His eyes flickered once, then closed for the last time.

The cannon fired, once.

* * *

**Those who have died: (will be included at end of every chapter)**

**24) Julia Rikerson- Ah, but I had to kill the couple. It was tragic and sweet, etc. etc. Plus it gave Leo a reason to flip out. And kill someone.**

**23) Nikolaus Hendricks- He just annoyed me. Honestly.**

**22) Cristina Valentina- Created only so she could die in the bloodbath, sorry.**

**21) Leo Cryonars- Couldn't see him living long without his beloved Julia. Thus, he died. Dramatically. And tragically. Yay.**

**Next chapter will come soon.**


	9. Chapter 9: Arena

**And... day two in the arena! Fun, huh?**

**This is kinda establishing exactly how the arena looks. Not everyone is going to appear. But, you know, whatever.**

**A note: :3 is a cat face. Just for future reference. If someone ':3'ed' it means they made a face like a cat. You know?**

**Review or DIE.**

* * *

"So, does anyone have any idea where the hell we are?"

Jack's question was met with a very disheartening silence.

"Um... in a maze?" Eve finally volunteered.

"In the Hunger Games?" Fleece said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, we need to keep moving."

Anya looked at the other three members of her group, sighing. "I heard somewhere that if you walk around and keep your right hand on the wall all the time you'll eventually get out of any maze."

"We don't have time for that!" Jack said angrily. "We've got one measly pack of food, with maybe a day's worth of water. Unless we get out of here, and fast, we'll starve to death."

"Not if we eat each other," Anya said.

"..."

"Seriously?" Eve squeaked, shivering. "Eek..."

"I'm sure it was a joke," Fleece said, glancing sideways at the District Eleven girl. "Right?"

"...sure," Anya said.

"..."

"So, shouldn't we get going?" Fleece asked brightly. "The whole idea behind forming an alliance is that we're stronger together. If we stand around wasting our time arguing it kind of defeats the purpose, right?"

"True."

"Then let's go."

"Now."

They set off down the path, glancing down intersections and squinting through the walls, trying to figure out how to get out of the maze. The glass-like walls allowed them to see a forest, and a stream of water, but unless they could get out of the maze they couldn't replenish their water supply.

The maze itself was rather strange. Past Hunger Games had featured mazes, but they were usually made of tall shrubs or bricks. These walls were more of a force-field type thing, and transparent. There was a thread of crackling electricity at the top, delineating the top of said wall, and apparently also serving as a deterrent to anyone who wanted to try climbing over the walls.

So the only way out was through.

The cornucopia was at the center of the maze, and all along the outside was a strip of forest, encircling the maze. From what Anya could see, they were about three layers from the forest layer, but right now they seemed to be wandering in circles.

"Hey, hold on," Fleece said. "Isn't that the marker we set down an hour ago?"

"I'm sure it wasn't an hour ago," Anya said. "But yes. That is our marker."

The four of them had decided to leave a scrap of cloth at an intersection awhile ago, back when they had first begun to suspect that they weren't getting anywhere. Now they knew for sure, because the brightly colored scrap of fabric was right there, on the ground in front of them.

"Oh, no..." Eve leaned against the wall, burying her face in her hands. "We're never going to get out of here..."

"Sure we will!" Fleece said.

"Really?" Jack asked, sitting down tiredly. "How much water is left?"

Anya checked the bag, since it was her turn to carry it. "Five bottles. And half of one. And some food."

There was an ominous rumbling, and Eve shrieked. "The walls!"

Anya turned. The walls surrounding them were shifting, closing off the passageway that they had just exited. "Oh my god..."

The walls slammed into each other, the resultant crash echoing across the arena. The dust that had been kicked up by the wall's passage settled slowly, covering everything with a fine coat of powder, including Anya, Fleece, Eve, and Jack.

Anya glanced at the others, eyebrows raised. "Well. That was interesting."

Jack burst out laughing. "You all look like ghosts."

"Ahaha... we do, don't we?" Eve giggled, brushing at her brown outfit and sending clouds of dust drifting up. She sneezed, then giggled again. "You do too!"

Fleece sighed. "Well, I guess that way is closed. Shall we keep going?"

"Sure."

* * *

"He had no right to hit you like that."

Saffron glanced back at him, an amused look on her face. "Are you still upset about that? Keep mentioning it and I might start thinking that you actually care."

Tinder shrugged. "He still has no right to just walk in and take charge. Just 'cause he's from District One doesn't mean-"

"Doesn't mean what, Twelve?"

Tinder froze as he felt the cold steel of Ferro's sword against the back of his neck.

"Well?" the District One boy asked, a teasing note in his voice. "You were saying?"

He looked up into the boy's blue eyes. "Well, just that maybe you're being unfair. And that maybe one day I'll get tired of that and just kill you."

Silence fell over the Careers. Tinder didn't exactly know why he had said that, since he hadn't planned to say anything to offend Ferro. No one had stood up to that jerk, so far, and Tinder hadn't wanted to be the first. But now he was, and now everyone was staring at them, Ferro's sword still casually resting against his neck and Tinder standing, hand on his knife hilt.

Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, Ferro burst out laughing.

"I like your guts, Twelve. You're hardly as much of a coward as you seem." He smirked. "But if you really think that you would ever stand a chance against me in a fight... well, you'd be insane to even consider it." He sheathed the sword, then yawned. "Shall we continue?"

"Yeah, we'd better," Rydel said. The Careers were still in the maze, but by Tinder's estimations they were only a few passageways from the exit. Not that they desperately needed to get to the forest or anything, since they had enough supplies to survive for a long time.

"So, when do we start really killing people?" Lily asked. "I want to get home soon so I can take a real shower. And get out of these ugly clothes and into something pretty."

Tinder rolled his eyes. What a brat.

"Do not worry, my lady," Ferro replied, a smile on his face as he bowed. "I shall be your valiant knight."

Lily simpered. "That's my loyal butler." She seemed to have already forgotten his comment during the interviews about how he wouldn't die for her, even if she flat-out told him to.

"Hey, look over there!" Rydel pointed, grinning. "That's the exit, isn't it?"

"It is indeed." Tinder paused, looking around. "That seemed like it was too easy."

"Why do you care? It's hardly a bad thing if we got it easy," Saffron pointed out. She grabbed his hand, pulling him along. "Come on!"

He considered withdrawing his hand, but if she thought that they were close friends, maybe it would be easier to kill her once the time came to do so. "That's a forest."

"Obviously."

He glared at Ferro but didn't say anything.

* * *

_I wonder where I am, ne?_

Fiore glanced around helplessly, scratching her head. She was at an intersection between three paths, and the sunlight was reflecting off the glass-like walls into her eyes, blinding her.

"Ah, but if I can't see anyone then no one can see me, ne?" she reasoned aloud, shifting her backpack around, trying to keep the straps from digging into her shoulders. "And... ne, that's a good thing. Right?"

She looked around again, frowning. "But I still don't know where to go..."

_And maybe I shouldn't talk to myself, ne? It's, like, the first sign of insanity, right?_

She had grabbed the first thing that her hands had landed on at the cornucopia. Just because it was a hot pink backpack with mostly water and dried fruit in it didn't mean she was some kind of loser. The backpack could, however, be seen from fairly far off, so she had sacrificed some of her water so get enough mud to cover the obnoxiously brightly colored pack.

Taking a sip from another water bottle, she decided to spin in a circle and see what happened. She closed her eyes and spun, one hand out. After awhile she stopped, with her hand pointing down one path.

"Ne, I guess I'll take that one, then~"

She sipped from the bottle again, then screwed the top back on.

_I hope I get out of here soon... it's boring here..._

But, you know, whatever happened would happen. As her best friend had once told her, she should 'face what was surely to come without fear of unforeseen consequences.' Which was smart. And very Fiore-like. In her opinion, at least.

* * *

Zana almost walked into another wall and started cursing under her breath._ Stupid walls.._.

She had caught a glimpse of another group through those same walls about an hour ago, and had ducked down, hoping that they had not seen her. The maze being transparent was disorienting, but she was fairly confident that she had found a way out.

The Careers had escaped only a few minutes ago. How did she know that? Well, she had been following them, of course. Just because she seemed like a big-boobed, brainless chick didn't mean that she didn't have a few great ideas every now and then.

Though, of course, the big-boobed part was true.

She glanced down at the footprints in the dust, frowning. I sure hope I'm actually going the right way... and that they're not waiting there at the exit to kill me.

Zana didn't have any food or water. Which kinda sucked. But she hoped that she would be able to lure in a weaker Tribute that had said necessary supplies and form an alliance. Like Fiore, or maybe Avi. Both were fine. And cute.

_Ah, how many of us are left?_

She paused, trying to remember. _Not many died at the cornucopia. Surprising. There was Leo and Julia... they were kinda annoying, making out all over the place._

_Cristina... but she was twelve. So yeah. I didn't really have much of an impression of her anyways. Nikolaus was also annoying._

Zana found many people annoying, really. Especially if they failed to appreciate how epic she and her boobs were.

_I'd better get out of here... so I can get some water. There's a river in the forest, I bet._

* * *

Yawn...

Romulus sighed, looking around. He was out of the maze, thankfully. It had seemed awfully easy, come to think of it. Maybe someone in the Capitol was on his side.

_Yeah, right. Who'd waste their time on a District Nine boy, especially someone as useless as me?_

He yawned again, rubbing his eyes. The sun reflecting off the walls all day long into his eyes had given him a slight headache. He had a pack with water and food in it, but no weapon. Which might turn out to be a problem, later. But whatever.

"Hey, look, it's the Nine boy!"

Crap.

Rydel Dewleaf appeared out of nowhere, holding an axe in his right hand.

Why the hell does he have an axe? That's so unfair...

Romulus didn't really realize how much danger he was in until the rest of the Careers came out from behind a boulder, Ferro smirking as usual.

"Hey, Ferro, what do you think we should do with him?" Rydel asked, grinning.

"... isn't it obvious?" Lily asked, running one well-manicured hand through her blonde hair. "Just kill him and get it over with so I can stop walking around. My feet are getting tired."

"Probably 'cause you're a lazy, spoiled brat," Romulus said, smiling. "Just you wait, in a few days this will be nothing to you! I bet you'll be great at walking soon~"

The Careers stared at him in disbelief.

"...the hell? We're about to kill you and you're still grinning?" Tinder asked.

Romulus :3'ed. "Yep! But... before you kill me..."

"Yes?"

"You have to catch me first!" And with that he turned and sprinted for the forest.

Ferro cursed and set off after him, yelling, "C'mon, you idiots, let's get him!"

_Ahaha... you can't catch me..._

Romulus ducked back into the maze, then stomped on the edge of the path, hard. If this worked, he was fine. If not, he was dead.

One of the walls rumbled, then started moving across, cutting off the path. Romulus knew that the walls moved on their own a lot, apparently randomly, but he had also discovered that if he stamped hard enough on those little indented spots next to the path... this happened.

Ferro reached the wall just as it closed, blocking him. Romulus laughed, then waved to the District One boy.

"Bye bye! Hope you have a good day!"

_Yeah, bitch. I am awesome._

* * *

**And... that is all.**

**Review please.**


	10. Chapter 10: Alliances

**Apologies for the fourth-wall breakage in the first scene. I swear, it won't happen again (unless you like that!)**

* * *

DAY TWO:

_The author has forgotten me... wait, is that me thinking, there? I'm back!_

Walter mentally chastised himself for breaking the fourth wall, even if his complaints were justified and the author really should have been paying more attention to him. Despite the fact that he was a rather minor character and expected to die very soon. And the least that idiotic author could have done was given him an alliance to interact with, but noooo, he had to be all alone, hanging out in the maze, alone and friendless. And, to top it all off, he had a cut on his leg from where one of the Careers- Rydel, probably, had nicked him with a sword at the cornucopia.

Yes, he was still in the maze. It was rather boring, walking through all those passages, surrounded by the same glass-like walls. The monotony was beginning to get on his nerves. He had seen the Careers get out, but when he tried to do the same thing he had been baffled again and again by dead ends, false passages, and unending loops.

"Hey, if you're listening... make something interesting happen soon!" he called out, glancing up at the sky with his eyes narrowed.

Surely he was yelling at the Capitol citizens and the Game-makers watching him, not the author writing this story. Of course not. Psssh, no...

As if on cue, he heard voices, muffled by the walls. Ducking down and crouching so that whoever it was would be less less likely to see him, he peered over his bag, trying to see. The sudden movement made his leg hurt, but he didn't dare make any noise. Anyone could be a threat. Anyone at all.

"Have any idea where we are, Andrew?" said a bright, bubbly female voice. Walter was fairly sure that it belonged to the Tribute from District Three, Millie.

"No. I do not," a boy replied.

"We're lost!" But she didn't sound too upset about this. In fact, she seemed quite excited. And that was a strange reaction to being lost in a glass maze in the Hunger Games with other kids that want to kill you. But maybe that was just how Millie's personality was. Or maybe the author decided to make her the happy one that's always excited. Whatever.

_There you go again with those references. Stop it or the readers will get annoyed._

Walter noticed that there were three kids in the group there. Andrew, Millie, and her District partner, Servic. The twitchy boy hadn't said much, and was kind of hanging back, so if he hadn't looked closely he might have missed the thin boy among the reflections off the walls.

_Well, they look happy. I, on the other hand, have to move on so I can get some food from the forest. Plus the author wants to switch points of view now._

* * *

Avi was completely and utterly lost.

She'd started out with high hopes- getting a knife and a pack with enough water to last for at least a week and not getting killed right away- but now, after a day and a half spent wandering the maze, she was starting to feel a bit disheartened. She had no idea where she was, and she had seen no one at all since starting out.

A sudden noise made her realize that she had spoken- er, thought- too soon. A trio was approaching from her right, but she was separated from them by a wall. At least they weren't the Careers, so she might not automatically be dead.

The boy leading the group was the first to see her. It was the District Two kid... Andrew. Right. And next to him were Millie and Servic, from Three. Millie had been nice to her in training, so Avi decided to risk talking to her.

"Hey, help me!" she yelled, waving her arms.

"Why should we assist you?" Andrew asked, folding his arms.

"What's the matter?" Millie asked at the same time, a look of concern on her face. Andrew glared at her but she approached Avi anyways, pressing her hands against the glass walls.

"I'm lost and I haven't seen anyone besides you since the bloodbath and I'm hungry 'cause I have no food and I'm lost!" the District Four girl cried, tears coming to her eyes.

"You already mentioned that you were lost," Andrew pointed out.

"Can you help me?" Avi repeated, desperate. She knew that she wouldn't survive much longer on her own, and this group was the strongest she had seen so far. Admittedly, they were the only group she had seen. And the Careers were probably stronger. But Avi would never join them even if it meant her death.

Which it probably will, a soft, scared voice in her head added. She ignored it.

Andrew stared at her, apparently deep in thought. Then he seemed to reach a decision. "Go left until the path splits, and take the center trail. Then continue until the second right. Then the first left, then the third left. You should reach us in about ten minutes."

"Wh-what?" she stammered, surprised.

He repeated himself patiently. She nodded gratefully and set off.

_I do hope this is the right choice... and that he doesn't regret helping me and decide to kill me._

* * *

Unfortunately for Avi, this was exactly what was being debated at that very moment by Andrew's group. Millie was, of course, all of adding someone to their alliance. Servic seemed to side with her, as usual, but also seemed a bit concerned that adding a random girl would weaken them.

"But she needs our help!" Millie insisted, frowning.

"B-but she might k-kill us..."

"Pfft," Millie laughed scornfully. "Do you really think that someone like Avi would be able to do that?"

"You should not be so quick to take in every stray that comes begging for a handout," Andrew said softly. "That is a good way to get yourself hurt."

Andrew was starting to rethink his decision to assist Avi. On the one hand, leaving a weak kid like her alone would be tantamount to killing her, which wasn't something Andrew wanted to do at this point. Perhaps it was just that that was the sort of thing that a Career would do. Perhaps he was proving that he had a heart. But maybe letting Avi in would decrease all of their chances of survival. And Andrew's main goal was keeping his group alive.

The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

The question being... was Avi the few- or the one- that needed to be sacrificed for the greater good?

_No. I accepted a responsibility to protect Millie and Servic the instant I entered into an alliance with them. Protecting Avi as well would only increase their chances of survival, since she doesn't seem like the kind of person who could kill her teammates. A weakness, true, but one that benefits me._

The sound of footsteps reached his ears and he looked up, surprised that Avi had made it here this quickly. She must have sprinted or something.

"Ah, there you are!" Millie said, smiling. "What's up?"

Avi bent over, holding her stomach and panting. "I... ran... all... the way,"she gasped out, looking up at the District Three girl.

"Why?"

"I was... worried you... left... me." She straightened up, a small smile on her face. "But you... didn't."

"Of course we didn't!" Millie looked shocked. "What kind of people would we be if we just deserted you? Who would do that?"

"Ferro," Avi replied.

"Rydel," Servic added.

"Tinder... Saffron... Lily..."

"Pretty much anyone else," Andrew finished.

"O-okay..." Millie's eyes were wide. "I... never really thought about that."

_She's so naive..._

* * *

_There! The exit!_

Zana abandoned all caution and sprinted for the exit, panting. She was insanely thirsty, and she was really tired of running into the walls because they were clear.

_Ah, a forest. Oh, look, a stream! Water!_

In her haste, she forgot to keep an eye out for any threats. And as a result, she ran headlong into someone else on her way to the water.

"Ne, Zana!"

She relaxed as the familiar voice reached her ears. This was no threat. In fact, now would be a great time to get some food from this innocent, trusting girl.

"Fiore... do you want to be allies?" she asked, smiling as brightly as she could.

"Sure!" Fiore grinned. "Ne, but you have to carry my backpack, then."

"What?" Zana stared at the dark-haired girl. "Seriously?"

"Yep~"

And so Zana had no choice but to carry said backpack. And it was muddy. And hot pink. But at least she was able to snag some food from it, because she was really hungry. They set off down the path, making their way through the forest.

"So, you just got out of the maze too?" she asked Fiore, who was strolling through the trees ahead like she hadn't a care in the world. Which, knowing Fiore, she probably didn't.

"Was that not obvious?"

"... you didn't say 'ne'."

"Say what?" Fiore glanced back at her, a cheerfully mystified expression on her face.

She... doesn't even realize she's doing it? My god...

Zana almost tripped over a root. Cursing, she dropped the pack.

"Ne, are you all right?" Fiore grinned.

She glared at the District Seven girl. "What the hell? We're in the fucking Hunger Games. Stop smiling like that. You're so annoying. And why the hell do I have to carry your pack, you bitch?"

Fiore didn't seem at all fazed by her outburst. "Ne, do you want me to carry the bag?"

"Grrr..." Zana dumped the bag on the path. "You know what? I don't even think it's worth it to be in an alliance with you!"

"But then you would have no food, ne?"

Perhaps Fiore was not as clueless as she had initially thought. "I... umm..." She sat down heavily on the path, sighing. "Whatever. Fine. You win."

"Ahaha~" Fiore knelt down next to her. "I usually do~"

Zana looked at the violet-eyed girl. Fiore was absolutely fascinating. And infuriating, but there wasn't much she could do about that. For some reason, she couldn't imagine leaving her now. Even if it was supremely annoying to deal with her, there was something about her that made it impossible for Zana to abandon her.

"You are cute. Did you know that, ne?"

"Wh-what?" She looked up, shocked. "Where did that come from?"

"You are." Fiore poked the other girl's face, making Zana flinch. "You are cute and I like you."

"..."

"I can do that too, ne! Watch me. ..."

"..."

"Um..."

How awkward. Zana pulled back, slapping Fiore's hand away. "Get away. I'm not interested in that." She tried to ignore the fact that her face was burning, and that it was probably bright red right now. Even though Fiore had made her blush like that, even though Zana's heart was beating faster and faster, she told herself firmly that this meant nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Now, if only she could convince her racing heart of that fact.

* * *

Jack stared at the water bottle in his hand. It was half full. And it was his groups second to last one.

"What are we going to do?" Eve asked, hugging her knees. The four of them were still in the maze, still lost, and with even less of a chance of surviving than they had had before. They had spent almost a whole day walking around the passages, and now, at high noon on the second day in the arena, had sat down in an intersection to try and figure out a way out of there.

"We've tried everything possible," Anya added, passing a hand across her sweaty forehead. "What do we do now? We can't just keep wandering in circles like this for the rest of our time here. We'll run out of water and die."

Fleece nodded in agreement. "She's right."

"Let's all just calm down," Jack said, putting the bottle back into the bag. "i'm sure we'll find a way out of here soon."

"Better be really soon, or we'll be dead," Anya replied bluntly. Jack glared at the pessimistic girl, worried that her straightforward, brusque manner would lower morale among his group.

"What we need is more water. And maybe food," he said.

"Hey, hey..." Fleece stood up, pointing off into the distance, back down the path that they were just on. "Someone's coming. Looks like the Twelve girl." He pulled his sword out and motioned for the others to stand up.

"I don't think Rosa..." Eve began, only to be cut off by Anya.

"It doesn't matter if you don't think she's a threat. You have no idea what she might do."

"Rosa wouldn't hurt anyone!" Eve shoved Anya out of the way and ran to meet the District Twelve girl. "Rosa! You're here! I was worried. You said you'd be in an alliance with me, remember?" She hugged her, grinning up at the surprised teen.

"...yeah. I remember." The red-head nodded, extracting herself from Eve's hug.

Jack frowned. "Wait a second... we're just letting her into our alliance? Just like that?"

"Sure! Why not?" Eve asked, smiling at the bemused boy.

"I don't see anything wrong with it," Fleece added. "You can be part of our alliance, Rosa. That's great."

"Thank you!" Rosa said, grinning.

"Oh, please," Anya muttered. "You guys are all so trusting. What do you want me to do, put on some happy theme music to play in the background while we all hug and dance around singing songs and holding hands? You're making this into some kinda movie cliche. Stop with the trusting cheerfulness before I throw up."

"No need to be so cynical, Anya..." Jack muttered.

"What do you mean? We're in the Hunger Games. We're in this to kill each other. Not to make new friends and have adventures." She stood up, normally expressionless face alight with fury. "Why the hell am I even with you, if you're going to just risk our lives to help someone who's never done anything for us? I don't know about you, but I don't want to die. I want to get home to my little sisters. I want to see my family again."

"Anya..." Jack grabbed her hand, trying to keep her from leaving. "Wait!"

She shook him off and turned away. "I'm leaving."

"No!" He ran after her, catching up at the next intersection. "Listen to me. We need to be in an alliance. We need to get as strong as we can because that's what those Careers are doing. Do you think that Ferro or Rydel cares if you want to get home? Do you think they'd spare you just 'cause you have people waiting back in DIstrict Eleven for you? They wouldn't!"

She glared at him, unconvinced. "Let me go."

"And the Careers know how to survive this, right? They've been training for this all their lives, right? So if they see the value in forming a large alliance, with anyone who wants to join, then shouldn't that tell us something? They let a DIstrict Twelve boy in because they thought he might help them win. Letting Rosa in is hardly as big as that. I know it's rare for lower Districts to have such big alliances, but maybe it's time to change that. Maybe... maybe in order to win this, we have to think like them. Act like them."

"So having an alliance... and acting like those bastards... is a good thing."

"If it helps us survive," Jack replied simply.

"Fine." Anya sighed and let Jack pull her back towards the group. Just before they rounded the bend, she pulled Jack closer and whispered, so no one else heard, "I'm sorry about that. And... thank you."

She dropped his hand and sat down next to Eve, as if she had never left. Jack stared at her, bemused.

_Such a strange girl. I find myself quite glad that she is on my side._

* * *

The sun beat down on Kyla's head, making the back of her neck sweat. The twelve-year-old lay in the middle of the path, unmoving, as a bird flew overhead. Blood from the wound on her right leg soaked into the grassy path, and her dark eyes were half-closed.

_I'm so tired...I can't... I can't move._

A distant part of her realized that she was probably dying, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. Just lying here, in the sun... is was so peaceful. Her leg hardly hurt anymore. She hadn't eaten or had anything to drink since before coming to the arena, and had spent the past few hours running desperately through the maze, trying to find a way, any way out. Despite this, there was one thing that still made her happy, even here, when she about to die.

Her father couldn't touch her here.

_And he'll never be able to again, if I die_, she thought. The idea of being free from him was amazing.

Then another thought pierced her pain-muddled brain, one that made her force herself up, to her knees despite the pain.

_Bentley._

Her little brother. She had to get home. She had to go back, she had to help him, to protect him from her father, because if that innocent child got hurt she would die. She didn't care at all about if she lived or died, but if Bentley got hurt, ever...

She became aware of footsteps, somewhere up ahead, coming towards her. Whoever it was must have seen her, because a worried voice soon reached her ears.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She opened her mouth, but all she could do was moan.

"Hey, hey, you don't look too good." It was definitely a boy, but Kyla couldn't have said more than that because her eyes were drifting closed again, against her will. She simply lacked the strength to open them again.

She pitched forward into the boy's arms. The last thing she felt was his heartbeat, loud in her sensitive ears. The sound reminded her of Bentley, curled up against her, asleep and sucking his thumb.

_Bentley..._

* * *

Lysander looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms. "Um..."

She wasn't dead, or a cannon would have gone off. There was a cut on her leg, and she didn't have a pack or anything with her. He didn't remember her name, but he was fairly sure that this was the girl that had camouflaged herself so well during the judging that the Game-makers had been unable to find her.

Whatever. That didn't matter. The important thing right now was that if Lysander did not help her she would die.

In the end, it wasn't that hard of a choice.

Sitting down, he unzipped his pack. Pulling his water bottle out and unscrewing it, he shifted closer to her, pressing the bottle to her lips. "Come on," he urged, even though she probably couldn't hear him. "You need to drink something."

He tilted the bottle forwards, accidentally spilling some on her. Hoping that at least some of it had gotten into her, he wiped the liquid that had dribbled over her chin off with his short sleeve. He then turned his attention to her leg, keeping up a steady stream of conversation.

"This might hurt a bit, but I promise it'll feel better after. My brother taught me how to do some of this kind of thing- he wants to be a doctor, you know? Not something that's all that common in District Ten, but I've always thought that it would be really cool if he managed it." He ripped a strip out of the extra shirt he had found in the pack- it had been too small for him anyways- and wet it with some more water from the bottle.

He carefully wrapped it around her leg, then tied it off. "Hopefully this won't get infected, that would be bad. But it didn't look like you got any dirt in it, which is good. Now..." He sighed heavily. "Now all I have to do is wait until you wake up! And then you can eat something and drink some more. And then I bet between the two of us we can get out of here."

He leaned against the maze wall, looking up at the sky. Judging from the sun's position, it was about mid-afternoon.

_I do hope she wakes up soon._

Lysander took a sip from his bottle and put it away._ I'm going to have to conserve my supplies, now that she's here. We need to make this stuff last long enough for both of us to get out of the maze._

_Because I sure as hell am not going to leave her here alone to die._

* * *

**Alliances:**

**anya/fleece/eve/jack**  
**andrew/millie/servic (sparky)/avi**  
**ferro/lily/rydel/saffron/tinder**  
**romulus**  
**walter **  
**cristina/nikolaus/leo/julia (DEAD)**  
**lysander**  
**kyla**  
**rosa**


	11. Chapter 11: Death Wish

**I PROMISE SOMEONE WILL DIE IN THIS CHAPTER! `**

**I know, it's been moving fairly slowly so far. But now it gets interesting, really!**

**Don't forget to review~**

* * *

DAY TWO, PART TWO:

"It's your fault that Romulus escaped."

"Are you still upset about that, Ferro? That was yesterday!" Rydel grinned at the District One boy good-naturedly. "Get over it! We can kill that loser later! And how is it my fault?"

"Not you. Him." Ferro glared at Tinder murderously, fingering the hilt of his sword.

"How so?" Tinder asked calmly, though his hands too were hovering close to the handle of his knife. "I seem to recall that you were closest to him when he pulled that stunt with the walls. If any of us were in any position to kill him, it was you."

"Are you suggesting that I failed?" Ferro hissed.

"Guys, come on!" Saffron said, grabbing Tinder's hand, forestalling him from drawing his weapon. "We've got enough to deal with without fighting each other. Be sensible. Please."

"You know what we need?" Rydel asked, standing up.

"What?" Lily asked, yawning.

"To go on a hunt!"

Ferro's eyes gleamed. "Much as I hate to admit that an idiot like you could ever think of something sensible, that isn't a bad idea."

"I'll try to take that as a compliment..."

* * *

_Am I dead?_

Kyla opened her eyes. The pain in her leg was almost gone, but she could still see the maze all around her. So no. Apparently she was not dead. She was still trying to decide whether this was a good thing or a bad thing when a boy leaned over her, grinning.

"Ah, you're awake!"

Kyla sat up, startled. "Wh-who are you?" she gasped, edging away.

He backed off, eyes wide. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you! Calm down!"

"Who are you?" she repeated frantically, still trying to move away despite the fact that she was in a corner, backed up against the wall. Fear and panic overwhelmed her, drowning out any reasonable, calm thoughts.

"I'm Lysander. I saved your life."

His calm statement made her blink, then slowly relax, still staring warily at him. "Well. Thank you. I'm Kyla."

"Kyla. That's a nice name." He nodded. "Better than mine, that's for sure. My mom must've been crazy, naming me what she did. I mean, no one reads Shakespeare anymore. No one. I bet she's the only one in all of Panem that knows who he even is-"

"I know who he was," she said softly. "Lysander... from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Right?"

He glanced at her, surprised. "Yeah. Wow. I guess you do know what I'm talking about. And I'm sorry if I talk a lot, you know? My brothers say I have a problem, like I talk too much, you know? But I guess it's just when I'm nervous, I talk more. And since we're in the Hunger Games, I've got plenty to be nervous about. Though the more I talk the more likely it is that someone will hear me, so maybe I'd better shut up, huh?"

Kyla smiled. "You're funny..."

"Ah, really?" He grinned. "You should smile more often, you know? It makes you look prettier. Not that you weren't pretty to begin with. Or aren't pretty, I mean. I mean... ah, don't take that as an insult! I don't wanna offend you, and really... I mean..."

Her smile widened as he floundered, not quite sure what to say. "I get what you mean."

"Good! Most people don't get me, but I guess us meeting like this is just fate! My luck, right? I pick the one tribute in this arena that has read Shakespeare! Cool, huh? And now all we have to do is get out of here and then maybe get some water. And, you know, try to keep from being killed. Right? And wait a second, do you hear that?"

"What?" Kyla looked around, nervous.

"Over there." Lysander pointed, sinking down and huddling with Kyla in the shadow of the maze wall. "I can't see who it is though, can you? They're on the other side of the wall, so they can't hurt us, I think. But we still probably shouldn't let ourselves be seen, but if they did see us what if they were nice? But maybe I should stop talking. Yes? No? Okay..."

She squinted, then gasped. "It's them. The Careers."

"Crap."

Kyla frowned. I_ didn't know he could limit himself to one sentence. And one word, at that._

She tried to make herself as small as possible, hoping that they didn't see her or Lysander. The five Careers were walking down the maze path, Tinder in front. Ferro's grey hair was visible as he idly swung his sword from side to side, frowning.

"What're they doing?" Lysander whispered.

"No idea," she replied just as quietly. "But we need to be quiet, or they'll hear us."

"And then kill us."

"Yeah, that."

* * *

"Well, smart one, what do we do now?" Lily asked sarcastically, glaring daggers at Rydel. The easy-going District Four boy waved her off, grinning cheerfully.

"No problem, Lils. I've got this covered. Just 'cause these tracks seem to lead to a solid wall means nothing!"

"Oh, yeah, that's encouraging," Saffron muttered.

Rydel had been in charge of tracking down some Tributes to kill—since this whole hunt had been his idea—and so far, the only tracks they had found seemed to stop at a wall that lay firmly across the path, blocking the Careers' way.

"What did that kid Romulus do?" Tinder asked, moving to the edge of the path, looking closely at the ground. "Something like… this?" His eyes found on a circular indent on the side of the path, and he promptly slammed his foot down on it.

The wall rumbled, then slid away, opening the pathway up. Ferro nodded approvingly and glanced down at the footprints still visible in the dust. "Come on. We've got some weaklings to kill."

"Hey, are we going to be able to find our way back?" Saffron asked, hesitating and glancing back down the path they were taking. "I mean, what's to stop someone from closing the walls behind us? And can't the Capitol control them too? So what if someone decided to—"

"You worry too much," Lily said. "I bet you're just scared."

The red-head glared at the District One girl, whose only response was a haughty flip of her long blonde hair.

* * *

The first sign that something was wrong was a noise, an extra footstep where there should have been none. Eve didn't think much of it at first, but something made her turn around.

Behind her, behind her group, stood five figures, the setting sun shining from behind them, refracted through the glassy walls of the maze. For a second the light blinded her, made it impossible for her to make out any details. Then something clicked.

"Run!" she screamed to her group. They turned at this, and she saw on their faces the same shock and fear that was coursing through her own veins, making her want to run and run until she couldn't anymore, or until she was far from this, away from this horror. She was going to die. They were all going to die.

_I need to get out of here. Now._

But she couldn't run. There was nowhere to go.

"Hello, little ones. Are you lost?" An all too familiar voice came from the shadows, ringing mockingly in Eve's ears. Ferro stepped into view, a smirk on his face as he twirled his sword, which he already had out, as if eager to use it.

"Hey, yeah, we can help you get home!" Rydel added, joining Ferro. He was followed by Tinder and Saffron, then finally Lily.

"G-get away!" Fleece stuttered, holding the knife out at the Careers. To the three behind him he muttered, "Run. Now. Get the hell out of here."

Jack nodded and grabbed Anya's hand, pulling her away. Or at least he tried to.

Tinder moved faster than Eve had thought possible, darting past her and pinning Jack to the wall, knife blade pressed dangerously against the District Six boy's throat. Jack gulped, adams-apple moving visibly on his pale throat. Eve could practically see the sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Now, everyone just stay calm and maybe you'll live for a few more minutes," Ferro sneered. "Who wants to go first?"

Eve stared at him, terrified. She had no idea how things had gotten so bad, so quickly. Just a few minutes ago, they'd been walking down the path, so sure they were close to finding the exit. And now they were about to be killed.

Funny, how everything seemed so clear, so detailed right now. Her eyes seemed to be picking up things she hadn't ever noticed before: like how the sunlight reflecting just so off the walls made it look like the scene was bathed in a golden light, like how Ferro's sword spinning around and around sent tiny spots of reflected light skittering off the floor, off his clothes, off the girls standing behind him. Like how Anya seemed so torn, with a clear route to freedom on one side but Jack standing there, with Tinder's blade against the soft skin of his neck, a hair's-breadth from his jugular vein. Like how Fleece stood so protectively in front of Rosa, like he was ready to die for the girl. And how Rosa was staring so intently at the Careers, searching for a weakness, anything she could take advantage of.

_They shouldn't die. They don't deserve it._

It took only a second for her to make her decision. Meeting Anya's eyes, praying that the District Eleven girl would figure out what she wanted her to do, she stepped forwards.

"I'll be first."

Her voice rang out, surprisingly loud and clear. Ferro's eyes widened, and Tinder's grip on the knife loosened as he stared at Eve in shock.

That was exactly what she had counted on. Anya- such a smart girl, thank god- leapt forward towards  
the District Twelve boy, knocking Jack to the ground, out of the reach of Tinder's knife. The two of them immediately got up and ran, sprinting down the path and taking the next intersection. Fleece and Rosa dashed down the way the Careers had come, the red head glancing back once, meeting Eve's eyes.

Eve shook her head. "Go! I'll catch up!"

A complete lie, of course, By now the Careers had her surrounded, cutting off any escape routes she might have taken.

Ferro didn't hesitate for very long. He turned, met Rydel's eyes, and gestured once in the direction that the first pair had taken. The District Four boy nodded and set off, jogging, eyes on the footprints the two of them had left behind. Tinder pocketed his knife, drew his sword, and set off after the other two before Ferro could even look his way.

Which left Eve facing Ferro, Lily, and Saffron.

"You're rather cute," he said, grabbing her by her hair and yanking her head up, forcing her to look at him. "Pity, really."

He pressed the knife against her throat and she almost closed her eyes, bracing herself for what he was about to do. But then she made herself look him right in his merciless blue eyes.

I'll face death with my eyes open. And I'll make him look into my eyes as he kills me. He should see who he's killing. I shouldn't just be another nameless, faceless victim.

"Brave girl, huh?" Ferro's voice dropped ominously. "A trait I admire, to be sure. We'll see how brave you really, are, eh?"

He put one hand on her shoulder and forced her to her knees. She tried to fight him, twisting away, but he moved with her, throwing her back to the ground. She hit the ground, hard, the breath driven out of her. She stared up at him, the fear suddenly draining out of her.

_I am going to die._ But this time, she wasn't afraid.

She turned her head to the side, towards the female Careers. She caught Saffron's eyes, and the other girl looked away, an ashamed look on her face. At least someone seemed to be human here. Even if it didn't exactly help Eve.

"Hey, you ought to be looking at me," Ferro drawled, placing a foot on her stomach, making her gasp for breath. He had a knife in his hand- Eve hadn't seen him draw it.

"What do you think I'm going to do with this knife?" he asked, looking curiously down at her. Pinned under his foot as she was, she couldn't really move. So she decided to play along with him, just for the heck of it.

"Kill me."

"Wrong!" He smirked. "I'll stab you in the right shoulder with it, okay?"

"Um..."

He brought the knife down, burying it in her shoulder. She screamed in pain, struggling against him. He knelt, putting one hand on her shoulder and pinning her down. She could feel the tiny stones on the path, digging into her back as she thrashed around, whimpering.

"Ahaha... " He pulled the knife out, prompting another cry, and tossed it to the side. "Do you want me to kill you now?"

She'd never felt pain like this before. Never. She just wanted it to end. Through the tears obscuring her vision, she looked up at Ferro, sobbing softly.

"Please. Kill me."

A sudden, stabbing pain in her chest, even worse than the one on her shoulder, a piercing scream that she distantly recognized as coming from her, then... nothing.

* * *

Tinder ran down the path, breath coming easily even though he was sprinting. This was, of course, thanks to his training. The two he was hunting would have no such advantage.

Sure enough, he caught up with them at the next intersection. The boy, Fleece, tried to pull the trick with the walls- he must have seen Romulus do it- but he only succeeded in trapping himself and Rosa with Tinder.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Fleece yelled, stepping in front of Rosa. TInder almost laughed at how pathetic he was. A step forward, a fake to the right, and a sudden lunge was all it took for him to disarm the DIstrict Eight boy. Quite sad, really, how easy that was.

He grabbed Fleece's arm and threw him against the wall, knocking the taller boy off his feet with ease. Stunned, Fleece tried to stand up, but Tinder struck his head with the hilt of his sword, effectively stunning him.

"Any last words?" he asked Rosa, turning to her. The red-head faced him fearlessly, glaring at him.

"You're a traitor and a coward and a disgrace to District Twelve."

"Is that so?" Tinder frowned. "Well, looks like my betrayal and cowardice paid off. Because I'm alive and you're about to be dead. Along with your little boyfriend here, who couldn't even protect himself, let alone you."

"He's not my boyfriend. That's not even relevant."

Tinder rolled his eyes and hefted the sword, pointing it at her face and staring down the length of it. Her clear green eyes met his and he froze, suddenly unsure.

Did he kill her, or did he let her go? Of course, being a Career meant that he should just chop of her head and leave her there in two pieces. But something made him hesitate.

Rosa seemed to see this, and a look of pity spread across her face. "You don't have to do this," she whispered.

He stared at her, lowering the sword. "Go," he whispered, glancing behind. "Now!"

She looked at him expressionlessly, then picked up Fleece's unconscious body, picking him up surprisingly easily. The sun had almost set, and in the gathering gloom it was hard for him to make out her face. But she mouthed something before she left, something that might have been 'thanks'.

_What have I done?_

* * *

"You both lost your prey?" Ferro turned away, disgusted. "You're both pathetic! Why are you even in this alliance? My god..."

"You could've killed that brat faster yourself, you know," Lily pointed out. "You spent an awful long time tormenting her."

Ferro resisted the urge to inform her that he had done far more than she had, since she had just stood there uselessly, occasionally yawning. Saffron hadn't been much better, but at least she had the grace to look a bit ashamed.

"Who's on guard duty?" he asked, pulling out his sleeping bag. "Not me, that's for sure."

"Nor me. I have to get my beauty sleep~" Lily replied.

"Fine, I'll protect you all from the big bad Tributes," Tinder drawled, standing up and drawing his sword.

"Thanks so much!" Rydel cheered sarcastically.

Ferro stared into the dying embers of the Career's campfire, watching the light slowly fade from them as they died. Much as the life had drained out of Eve's eyes as her blood had spattered, hot and sticky on his hands...

He found that the memory excited him. He rather wanted to kill someone again.

* * *

**20) Eve Epstein: Kinda a weakling, so she died. Sorry if you liked her.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Darkness and the Light

**Ah, I'm sorry if your Tribute didn't appear at all in the previous chapter. I apologize from the very bottom of my deep and love-filled heart. Really. I do.**

**And YAY MY STORY IS BACK UP! Curse fanfiction admins for taking it down! For those of you I haven't told, a user called demigodgirl1000 has a petition against the removal of interactive stories, go sign it.**

**Okay, so those of you who review regularly recently recieved a PM from me about reviewing a story by nb1998. That same author also published two more stories, and they want me to tell you to review. So please go do so? Thanks. And there's another good story, by an author called peace and joyce. Here's the link: www fanfiction net/s/8091669/1/The_Betrayal (replace spaces with periods). Review that too, ne?**

******Oh, and... review (this story) or die!**

* * *

**DAY THREE, PART ONE**

"If I had known she was going to die, I wouldn't have ever left her."

Jack glanced back at Anya, surprised. She had just given voice to the very thought that had been plaguing him all day.

_Was it my fault she died? I shouldn't have left her. If I had been there, could I have saved her?_

"Me neither," he replied softly, shrugging. "But we can't just give up. It would be a dishonor to the sacrifice she made. She died so we would have time to escape." He still couldn't believe that they had made it out of there alive. Rydel had missed them by literally three steps- Jack had found one of those circle-button things that closed the walls, and there hadn't been one on the Career's side. Pure dumb luck, that was all it was. But Eve had given them this chance- they might as well try to win.

"Why are we here, Jack?"

"We took a right at the last intersection."

"No, I mean here. In the Games."

"We got Reaped. Well, we volunteered. But yeah."

"The Games aren't fair."

"You just realized that?"

"... no." Anya sighed, shifting her backpack around. "Never mind."

"Okay." Jack looked around. "What do you think the chances are of us meeting back up with Fleece and Rosa?"

"None. Besides, haven't we learned how dangerous it is to be in an alliance?"

"How can you say that?" He turned, angry at her for saying that, angry at Eve for dying, angry at the Capitol for having these stupid Games in the first place. "Eve died for us. She died because she was in an alliance. I didn't see you complaining when she gave us enough time to escape. And you say it wasn't worth it to form an alliance?"

"No!" Anya stopped. "I meant... I meant it wasn't so good for her, was it?" She wasn't sure exactly what she was trying to say, but it seemed like there was something important she had to get Jack to understand. Even if she herself didn't understand it fully. Because maybe being here with Jack put him in danger.

"Are you saying that her death was caused by our alliance?" He sounded incredulous. "Anya, that's ridiculous."

"No, it isn't."

"We can't argue about this now. We have to get out of here."

"That's exactly why we have to discuss this now. It's the last time we'll be relatively safe. We can see people coming from a long way away- now that we know we need to keep an eye out for threats, I mean. And we don't really have to worry about being overheard."

"I guess." Jack sighed. "So what are you trying to say?"

"I don't know. But maybe... you shouldn't be here with me. Having an alliance makes us a bigger target. Any benefit we get from it is completely negated by the fact that two people are easier to track than one."

"But it's harder to sneak up on two people. And we can protect each other."

"Oh, please, stop it with the sappy 'I'll protect you' shit. No one's really gonna do that. That only happens in books and stuff."

"Eve died for us."

"I bet she regretted it at the end. You know, right before Ferro killed her. Or didn't you hear her scream?" Anya asked bitterly.

Jack flinched. He had indeed heard Eve's agonized cries as the two of them had fled down the path, pursued by Rydel. And then the heart-stopping sound of the cannon had resonated across the arena and Jack had known. Known that Eve was dead, dead because of him and his allies, the one who had she had been protecting. But the thought that Anya might leave him- that was almost unbearable. They were friends now, even if the circumstances in which they had become that were... not exactly the best. He didn't want to face the arena alone.

"Don't leave me," he said quietly, looking at her.

"...fine. I won't." She shrugged, blushing. "I guess we're stuck with each other, huh?"

"Not a bad thing."

* * *

"There."

Ferro pointed to the two figures at the end of the path, whispering to Rydel, "That's who we attack next. And I will not let you fail again. If at least one of them is not dead by the end of today, I will personally rip you limb from limb with my bare hands."

Rydel believed him. "No problem~" he replied, forcing a cheerful grin on his face despite the fear he was feeling. "I can take them down easy."

He glanced back at Ferro, then quietly started sneaking forward. The two of them were the only Careers in the maze at the moment. Lily, Saffron, and Tinder were back at what Rydel thought of as their 'base camp', just outside the maze, near the exit. Tinder wasn't too happy about being left behind, probably, but Ferro had said that it served him right for letting Fleece and Rosa get away.

Personally, Rydel thought that it was ridiculous that a fifteen-year-old was ordering them around. Rydel himself was seventeen, after all, and Tinder was eighteen. He wasn't sure about the girls, but he was fairly sure that Lily was about sixteen, and Saffron maybe seventeen. So Ferro was the youngest Career. He should have been the useless one, the one that got killed off first, but he had somehow managed to come out on top and terrorize everyone. Not that he didn't have the skills to back it up- even Rydel had to admit that Ferro was great witha sword.

He shook his head. _I need to concentrate. I really do. _

His two targets were only a few feet away, that District Ten boy with the wierd name (Lisdar? Lysan?) and the shy girl from District Nine. They hadn't noticed him yet, which was surprising.

The girl looked up. "I'm hungry, Lysander."

_Lysander. _That's_ his name. Right. _Rydel smirked.

"Okay," the boy said, dropping his pack. "I'm gonna go, um... take care of something. Be right back." He fidgeted and blushed, not meeting her eyes.

"Sure."

Lysander rounded the corner and took refuge behind a bush. He unzipped his fly, making it clear exactly what sort of 'business' he had been referring to. Because Rydel was a nice person, he let the District Ten boy finish before stepping out and clapping a hand over his mouth.

"One noise and you're dead," he hissed, pressing a knife to the shorter boy's neck. "Now, nod if you understand me. You will go back to your little girlfriend over there and act natural. Tell her you noticed something over here and convince her to follow her. Shouldn't be hard, since she seems to trust you. Got it so far?"

Lysander nodded, eyes wide with fear.

"Good. I will then kill her. You will be spared... perhaps."

He nodded again.

"Go." Rydel shoved him away, making him stumble slightly. If this worked out, it would be easy to cut them both down. If not... well, he could always hunt them down and kill them easily enough. But it was more fun to do it this way. He watched as Lysander poked Kyla's shoulder and pointed back to where he'd come from. Concealed behind a bush, Rydel watched as he led the girl closer. He was a terrible actor- Rydel could clearly see that he was terrified- but it was apparently enough to fool Kyla.

"What did you see?" she asked.

"I dunno, some kinda animal maybe. I could kill it and cook it for dinner, you know?"

Rydel stood up slowly, eyes fixed on the girl. Her back was to him, and it was almost laughably easy, how her neck was just within the reach of his sword.

Something made her turn around- maybe he made a sound, maybe his shadow had shown on the ground in front of her. She screamed, throwing herself aside as his sword came down, biting into her shoulder and sending a spray of blood into the air. A spattered layer of dark red covered the ground, Rydel, and Lysander. The latter winced, then turned and vomited into the nearest bush.

Kyla fell, eyes closed. There was no cannon sound yet, but with the amount of blood she'd lost Rydel had no doubt that she would be very dead very soon.

"What should I do with you, huh?" he asked the boy kneeling in the dust before him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"P-please don't kill me..."

"You're pathetic. You sold out your ally to save your own skin. Why should I spare you?"

Lysander buried his face in his hands, guilty sobs racking his body. "I... you would've killed me."

"And now she's dead. How does that make you feel, huh?"

"Please..."

Rydel snorted and swung the sword down. Lysander's head parted from his neck, falling to the ground with a sickening thump that was followed quickly by the boom of the cannon.

* * *

"So... now what?"

Fleece and Rosa stood in front of a vast expanse of glass-like wall, effectively trapped. They had been trying to get out of the maze all morning- after Eve's death last night, when the two of them had gotten separated from Anya and Jack. The passageway they had taken most recently had ended in a dead end, just the latest in a series of annoying, frustrating obstacles that they had encounter so far. Then, just as they had been about to turn back, the walls had started to close in around them.

Much as it embarrassed him to admit it, Fleece had screamed at that, sure that the Capitol was trying to crush them between the walls. Which, though it might have made for interesting TV watching in the Capitol, was not exactly how Fleece wanted to die. Not that he wanted to die at all. But whatever.

Thankfully, all that had happened was that the two of them were now trapped in a space about three yards on each side, surrounded by high, slick walls topped with electricity. On second thought, since they had only one bottle of water between the two of them and no way of scaling the walls, death-by-crushing might turn out to be preferable to the alternative- starvation.

"Are we _sure_ we can't climb the walls?"

Fleece sighed. They had already been over this. "We haven't got a rope or anything. Plus there's that barrier thing at the top."

"True."

He tilted his head back, squinting up at the sky. Judging from the position of the sun, it was mid-morning. "If the walls move... then they should move _back_ too, right?"

"We've already looked for one of those circle-things that open the walls. There isn't one on this side."

"I _know_ that. So if we didn't push a circle before the walls started moving- which we didn't- then the walls can move by themselves. So if the walls can trap us here, they can also let us out."

"So... we just have to wait."

"Pretty much."

"Great. Just freaking great." She sat down heavily, idly banging a stick against the wall to her left.

On a normal day, back home in District Eight, Fleece would've responded with some teasing, flirting remark like 'sarcasm does not become you, my princess' or 'now, now, it's not that bad... we have each other for company (insert wink and grin)', but right now he just couldn't summon up the energy to do so. Besides, it felt rather nice, not having to pretend.

So, with nothing else to do, they started to talk. At first the conversation was about mundane, everyday things- how much water they had left, whether it looked like it was going to rain- and then, as the morning drew on, it turned to something more immediate to their current situation: the other Tributes.

"Let's see," Fleece said. "Ferro killed Julia and Leo, who killed Nikolaus, and Cristina-"

"No, Tinder killed Cristina." Something in her tone of voice made Fleece frown and glance at her.

"You don't like him, huh?"

"He's a traitor." Her voice made it clear that she wouldn't tolerate any argument on this subject from him, so he let it go.

"Alright. Eve, um, died. That jerk Ferro killed her. God, I hate him. And he and Tinder hang out with that bitch Lily, and Rydel, and... Saffron."

"There's Anya and Jack... wonder how they're doing? Oh, and that District Nine boy that threw a sword at the Gamemakers!"

"Romulus, right? And his District partner, the one with the camouflage... Kyla, right. Man, those two were great." Fleece chuckled and shook his head.

Rosa sighed. "And, um, the District Three kids that are always hanging out and would make such a cute couple. Sparky and Millie."

"The weird girl from District Six... and the other weird one from Seven."

"Oh, the bog-boobed one and the one that rejected you during training?"

Fleece winced. "You saw that?"

"Everyone did."

"Ah, but she wasn't really my type anyways," he replied quickly, embarrassed.

"What kind of girl... is your type?" She blushed slightly, which he found adorable. Some of his old, flirty self resurfaced, and he found himself grinning at her.

"Fierce... tall... red hair..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, then."

And then she turned to face him and leaned in, her lips meeting his. He only hesitated for one, startled moment- usually he was the one initiating a kiss, after all- and then pulled her in closer, running his hands through her bright red hair. Her ice-blue eyes were closed, and he felt her smila gainst his lips. She pulled back, grinning.

"What?" he asked.

"Ah, you wanted me to do that. Don't deny it."

It was true, of course. Even in training he hadn't been able to keep his eyes off of her. But all of his previous romances- and he had no small number of them, too- had ended badly, with the girl furious at him for not being completely ready to commit. It wasn't like he wanted to hurt them, it was just... they didn't hold his attention enough. Besides, he wasn't the kind of boy that wanted to be tied down.

He explained this to Rosa in halting sentences, flushing and not looking at her. "...so you probably don't want me to... well, you probably don't want me."

"You idiot."

Fleece looked up, surprised. "What?"

"I'm not asking you to marry me, you dolt. we're in the _Hunger Games_, you know. We'll both be dead in a week. Why should I care if you had a million girlfriends before this? Not many chances for you to cheat now, right?" She smirked. "You're stuck with me, at least for the next few days. Deal with it."

"I, um..."

"Idiot," she muttered, but it was obvious that she didn't mean it. He grabbed her face and pulled her in for another kiss.

* * *

**19) Lysander Hastings: I feel like he wasn't the most likable character at the end, but... whatever. Sorry for those of you who were rooting for him?**

**Yay, we have a pairing! Fleece and Rosa! Do you approve? Hope so and if not, deal with it. **


	13. Chapter 13: Someone to Watch Over Me

**Chapter Thirteen! I've never gotten this far in a fanfic before (not that I'd ever gotten beyond one chapter in a story before this, so...)**

**Please review, people! PLEASE!**

* * *

**Day Four: Part One**

The darkness above was speckled with stars, though it didn't open out into the night sky. Kyla wondered distantly why the Game-makers had gone to all the trouble of installing fake stars- maybe for an added degree of realism. But the 'sky' was still only a ceiling, probably controlled by whatever sick minds in the Capitol wanted to torture the Tributes trapped here.

Not that it mattered right now.

She was dying, after all. It might take a few hours, maybe even a day, but with the wound in her shoulder and no food, there was no way that she'd live to see the next night. Especially without an alliance.

Lysander had led her into a trap. She should've realized that that was why he was so jumpy when he came back- Rydel must've caught him and told him to bring Kyla over. Threatened him, probably.

She didn't even blame Lysander for his betrayal, though. He had done what he had to do to survive. Or what he had thought he had to do to survive. He had _died_, though, so obviously he hadn't made the best choice. But Kyla couldn't truthfully say that, had she been in the same situation, she wouldn't have done the same thing. Sure, she wanted to think that she would've done the right thing and sacrificed herself to let someone else escape, but in reality she would always put her survival above any of the other Tributes here.

She had to get back to Bentley, after all.

Kyla realized that this was the second time in two days that she had been in this situation: bleeding to death in a deserted corner of the maze.

_If this one is going to be anything like the first time, I'll get rescued once I black out._

_Yeah, right. What are the chances of that happening?_

* * *

"Morning, everyone!"

Millie groaned, sitting up. "Avi, you're way too energetic for this early in the morning... what time is it?"

"Time is all relevant, Millie. Or is it relative...?" Avi frowned, tapping a finger against the side of her head.

"Relative." Andrew sat up, not looking very happy at being woken up. "Time is relative and you are irrelevant."

"How mean!" Avi said, grinning. "Well, while you guys were sleeping I made breakfast. See?" She stepped aside, revealing a collection of fruit apparently gathered from the nearby bushes. "Not much, and it's not hot, but it'll do."

"Thanks!" Millie responded, grabbing a piece that resembled an apple but was purple. Andrew grabbed her wrist before she could take a bite.

"Are we sure these aren't poisonous?"

"Of course they aren't," Avi replied. "I know all about plants, you know."

"Fine."

Servic yawned and stretched. "Food? I want some..."

"Here." Millie tossed him a purple apple and went to sit next to him. Andrew watched her poke him teasingly, giggling as he groaned and rolled away. It was obvious that there was potential for a relationship there, even if both of them were too shy to admit it.

This moment, right here and now, in the bright, crisp light of early morning, was so peaceful that Andrew almost forgot where he was. For a second he almost believed that it was possible for them to go on and live in happiness, to have a future that didn't include death and loss. But they were in the Hunger Games, and forming a personal attachment to anyone was not only risky, it was downright illogical. Anyone could die at anytime. Danger was everywhere.

As if to underscore that point, the sound of a footstep from behind him made him stiffen, surprised. He whirled, sword out in a heartbeat.

"Nice reflexes, Two. Maybe you should've joined us." Rydel Dewleaf, his hair messy and with deep, bruise-like shadows under his eyes from an apparently sleepless night, stepped forward with a throwing knife in one hand. "Too late now, though."

"Get the hell out of here!" Andrew yelled back to his alliance. Millie and Servic ran immediately, but Avi tripped and fell before she got much farther than the edge of their camp. She sat up, trying to scramble to her feet, but Rydel glanced scornfully at her, then flicked his wrist, sending a knife flying. It buried itself in the girl's stomach, making her scream and fall back to the ground. She looked down in horror at the wound, then touched it as if she couldn't believe that it was actually there. Her hands came away red, covered in blood, and she fell back, gasping and sobbing in pain.

Andrew snarled and swung his sword at Rydel, but the District Four boy managed to pull out his own blade and block the blow.

"Hey, don't put up too much of a fight, Two. I'm tired... Ferro would've killed me if I came back to the camp to sleep, since I accidentally didn't kill that Nine brat yesterday." Rydel yawned, then spun and threw another knife at Andrew. He avoided it fairly easily, though he was forced back a few steps.

"You're quick," Rydel continued. "Really, why _didn't_ you join us Careers? What a waste... I bet you were scared. It's obvious that I'm a much better fighter than you, and Ferro is even better. Tinder isn't bad either. Haven't seen Saffron fight yet. Lily probably sucks, though don't tell her I said that." He laughed at that. "I crack myself up. Who would you tell? You're going to be dead in a few minutes, anyways."

Andrew had noticed that the District Four boy was a talker- he was uncomfortable in a silent environment and felt the need to fill the air with banal and irrelevant comments whenever he was fighting. That might have been distracting to a less accomplished boy than Andrew, but he had trained himself in many situations and knew better than to let Rydel get under his skin with his words.

All this time, they had been circling each other, looking for a gap in the other's defenses. Every now and then one of them would dart forward, feint a bit, then pull back. It was as if neither of them wanted to risk really fighting each other.

But now Rydel lunged, sword flashing in the sunlight and grazing Andrew's arm. The blow hardly even drew blood, but it did sting like heck. He grimaced and parried, blade clashing against the other boy's with a rather impressive amount of noise. Pushing forward, he forced Rydel back, still mindful of Avi, who was curled up on the ground by the ashes of last night's campfire, blood pooling beneath her still form. The cannon hadn't fired yet, though, so there was hope. Maybe.

_I have to help her._

He glared at Rydel, sword still fully engaged in the fight. Until now he hadn't really been paying attention to the battle, instead letting his body run on autopilot as he tried to make sense of the unexpected arrival of the Career. But now he had no choice but to really, truly fight this idiot.

His sword darted past the other boy's defenses, slashing a long, wide cut across his pale cheek. Rydel hesitated, then turned and ran down the corridor. Andrew wanted to pursue him, wanted to chase him down and kill him slowly and painfully- he could have done so, if it weren't for Avi. He had to help Avi.

"Ahaha, I don't care, I killed her anyways!" the District Four boy called back as he fled. "I can get you later, you wimp..."

"Coward," Andrew spat, throwing his sword aside and kneeling next to Avi. The brown haired girl stirred and opened one eye, gazing up at him through tears of pain.

"Thank you... for protecting me," she whispered.

"But I couldn't. He hurt you."

"You tried. That's all that's important." She smiled weakly up at him, a tear trickling out of the corner of one of her blue eyes and falling into her blood-soaked hair. "I... if you win the Games, I want you to tell my sister that I love her and... that I want her to be happy..."

Andrew blinked away a tear, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. "No, no, Avi, you're going to be fine. You're going to get better and we'll win the Games together- it happened before, remember? Back in the 74th? And we'll move to the Capitol and live the rest of our lives happily, 'cause you're not going to die."

She smiled again. "Yes, I am... but that sounds so nice, Andrew. I wish... I could be with you... when you win." A bubble of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth, followed by a small stream. She was panting now, breath coming in ragged gasps. A small, detached part of Andrew's mind, the part that was still coldly logical even now, noted that her lungs were filling with fluid. Or, more specifically, blood from the wound in her stomach. And even if she didn't die of blood loss or shock, infection from her pierced intestines would get her anyways.

But the rest of him was in shock at the sight of this tiny girl bleeding to death in front of him, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help her, knowing that he was responsible for this-he should've been more vigilant, he should've been more careful... and she was _thanking_ him.

"No. You can't die, Avi, you can't..." he whispered, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly between his own. "You're not _allowed_ to die, Avi."

"Andrew..." Her eyes glazed over and her head sagged, body suddenly nothing more than dead weight in his hands. The cannon boomed and Andrew screamed.

"No! Avi!" He shook her shoulders, tears blurring his vision. "No, wake _up_ Avi, wake up, dammit!"

But it was too late.

She was dead.

* * *

Boom!

"Whoa, what the fuck?" The cannon blast made Zana jolt awake, eyes wide and heart pounding.

"Ne, such language, Zana. You should be ashamed of yourself, ne?"

Zana yawned and sat up, then glanced down at Fiore, who was in her sleeping bag, looking up at her with those ridiculous purple eyes.

Wait a second. _In her sleeping bag?_

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Ehehe..."

"What the hell are you doing in my sleeping bag? Huh? You're such a creep!" Zana scrambled out of the sleeping bag, completely freaked out. When had she gotten in there?

"Aw, I got cold. And the sleeping bag is not very comfy, ne? So I climbed into yours 'cause it looked nice and warm. So thank you for letting me stay warm with you, ne!"

"No! No! I didn't let you in! You don't _do_ stuff like that, Fiore! That's weird! And I don't wanna find you in my sleeping bag _ever again_, do you hear me?" _Not the least because part of me wants you to be in there with me, right next to me, no clothes on... God, though, I can't tell her that. _Zana glared at Fiore, trying to ignore how cute the latter looked right after she'd woken up. **_  
_**

"You are not wearing clothes, did you know that, ne?"

Zana flushed and grabbed a shirt from her bag, hastily slipping into it while keeping a running tirade going at the smiling girl still sitting in her sleeping bag. "First of all, I _am_ wearing something. A nightshirt. Just 'cause it happens to be see-through doesn't mean I'm not wearing _anything_, okay? And if that bothers you it's your fault for sneaking in like that."

"Oh, no, it does not bother me at all, ne. You are really cute when you are blushing, Zana."

"I-I, um... s-second of all, stop acting like that!"

"Ne, you are so shy. I know you totally want me, Zana."

_I can't honestly say I don't want her. Is that bad? _Zana had hated men all her life- probably because her brothers and father were such damn idiots- but she hadn't ever thought much about girls, either. She just hated everyone.

So why was this twin-tailed idiot any different? What was it about Fiore that made Zana want to be closer to her, made her want to, to... oh, do stuff that made her blush to even think about it, to do everything and anything, to feel the shorter girl's body against hers...

But she couldn't let herself think about that. It might be a good fantasy, but this was real life and within a week at least one- more likely both- of them would be dead. Letting herself (dare she even think it) _fall in love_ with Fiore would just be stupid. Maybe in another world, where there weren't any such thing as the Hunger Games, the two of them would have had a chance. But not here.

"Can we just forget that, Fiore?" she said softly, looking away and rummaging in her pack. "Let's just... have breakfast. Okay?"

The spacey girl nodded, not looking even a bit dejected. "Yes sir!"

* * *

Millie clung to Servic, sobbing into his shoulder. He sat there rather helplessly, feebly patting her back every now and then, making comforting sounds and trying to get her to calm down. He didn't have to ask her what was wrong, of course. That was rather obvious.

"A-avi... she died. She's dead. And w-we just _left_ her. We _ran away_."

"I-it's okay, Millie. We had to survive, didn't we? W-we had no choice..." Servic had no idea what he was supposed to say- he hadn't ever had to comfort a crying girl. Ever. In his life. It was hardly something that a human lab rat would have to learn how to do, and he _never_ would have thought that he would have had to use such a skill in the Hunger Games.

"She's _dead_." Millie softly sniffled, then looked up at Servic. "Oh, Sparky, she's _dead_. What are we going to do?"

"Look at me." Servic grabbed her shoulders and looked into her green eyes. "We are g-going to keep going. We're going to d-do everything we can to survive. Death... d-death is part of the Hunger Games. There's n-no way we can all get out of here alive. That is n-never going to happen.

"I'm scared, Sparky. I don't... I don't wanna die."

"I swear... if I can p-protect you, I will. I'm not going to l-leave you. I'll keep you safe as I can, okay? And... if you die, I swear I will avenge your death. Or die with you." Servic could hardly believe that those words had come out of his mouth, but the instant he said them he knew they were true. He was willing to do anything for Millie.

"Oh, Sparky..." Millie wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "You're so sweet. But I don't want you to die, either."

Servic shrugged. "Well..."

He didn't tell her what he was thinking, since she would've probably argued with him, tried to make him promise to not do it. Because he knew that if she died, there was no way that he would continue to live. If she was in danger, if she was about to be killed, he would rather die than see her get hurt. So he was willing to do anything- jump in front of a sword, if need be- to keep her safe. It felt like a really corny, really dramatic thing to say, but he knew it was true.

Instead he pressed his face into her hair, breathing in the warm smell of her body, making sure that the memory of her was burned into his mind. Reminding himself why he loved her. That was the one thing he knew for sure, now, even if she didn't know and probably didn't care.

* * *

**Sudden character development, random relationship changes... sorry about that. And also sorry for the lack of major deaths so far. But I don't want this to just be 'and then five people got killed and the Games were over'. I mean, I kinda want this story to go on for awhile, right?**

**18) Averi Mireault (Avi)- Cool name, bit of a Mary Sue as a character. Andrew was completely out of character at her death scene, but whatever. Yeah, I always planned for her to die fairly early on.**

**Days/Deaths (just in case you're confused or something):**

**Day One: Julia, Nikolaus, Cristina, Leo**

**Day Two: Eve**

**Day Three: Lysander**

**Day Four (current day): Avi**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	14. Chapter 14: Playing God

**And... chapter fourteen. Yay. This is kind of an interlude, from the p.o.v. of the president. If you haven't read the second or third Hunger Games books, there are a few spoilers in here. **

**Review or DIE.**

* * *

**Day Four: Part Two**

The room was dark, shadows obscuring the man's body as he sat in the chair, gazing down at the screen set in the table before him. The light from said screen was enough to illuminate most o his face, though- dark eyes, short hair, and an eternally smug expression.

The president of the country of Panem chuckled darkly as, on the screen before him, a girl was cut down by a boy, falling to the ground and screaming, face twisted in agony. "This happened... two days ago, no?"

Across the table from him, the head Game-maker nodded, once. "Indeed. And, at your request, we have withheld the hunters. But sir, the audience will be bored if there aren't any deaths soon. There's only been seven. That's a record low, is it not?"

"Are you questioning my orders?" the man spat, raising an eyebrow. The Game-maker, Archer Blyss, shrank back, shaking his head frantically, blonde hair flopping into his eyes.

"No, Mr. President sir, of _course_ not!" He hesitated. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Always, my dear Archer." The President gestured grandly, a small smirk on his lips.

"You seem strangely reserved this year. Less... savage. You don't seem to be taking as much pleasure in these deaths as you usually do. And we have the hunters ready for release- they would make for much more interesting watching, for sure, sir," Archer said earnestly. "Is the arena insufficient, sir? Is there anything that I have failed to do?"

"Of course not, Archer. It is impeccable, as always. A maze... of glass. Interesting. And the addition to it is nothing less than genius. The hunters, too, are works of art. No, I simply wish to watch them kill each other a bit longer. These are some... interesting Tributes we have this year, after all."

The President glanced down at a sheet of paper lying close by his right hand. "Ferro Rete. Lily Trintia. A butler and his lady, though I sense some rebellion from him. She is quite the spoiled brat, after all, and he no doubt tires of her increasingly petty demands. I look forward to the day he snaps, Archer."

"S-sir...?"

He ignored the blonde, instead picking up the sheet and squinting at it. "Andrew Clanculum. Saffron Jelikson. The latter is unimportant- typical Career- but the boy is a strange one. Trained all his life, but not with the District One alliance? What on earth can that be about?" The President chuckled. "We shall see, eh? Then there's the District Three lovebirds- Servic Gearwhir and Millienna Roberts. I shall greatly enjoy tearing them apart. How do you think I should do that?"

"I don't-"

"Rhetorical question, you idiot. Rydel Dewleaf and the late, lamented Averi Mireault. I think that Andrew's breakdown made for entertaining watching, eh? There he was, kneeling next to her bloody body, holding her, crying..." He chuckled again. "And Rydel killed his District partner without any hesitation at all. Amusing, no?"

"Then there's that couple from Five that died," he continued. "Leonard Cryonars and Julia Rikerson. Too bad, too, since I would've had a great deal of fun with those two. Six... Jack Everain and Zana Listal. I do so love the situation with Zana and the the girl from Seven- how cute. Fiore Arcase, right? And that idiotic boy, Walter Redwoods."

"Sir, I know who they are. I came to ask you what you were planning and why you were interfering. Not that I mind, of course, ut you so very rarely intervene- you like watching it, more than orchestrating it-"

"Are you telling me what I do and don't like, Archer?"

"No sir, I'm not."

"Good. Very good. Well, then there's Fleece Winnower and the twelve year old who died- Cristina Valentina. Another love story, with Fleece and Rosemarie, no? How sweet. I can't wait to kill them. Romulus Pace and Kyla Sprit. Romulus is quite the dissident, eh? Was he the one that threw the sword at you, Archer?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, it will be quite the task to break him, then. But I have faith in your abilities. Kyla, now, she's been abused as a child. Did you know that?"

"How...?"

"I have my ways." The President smiled ominously. "Rather like I know that you've been cheating on your sweet little wife, Tyri, with that blonde whore that you brought in from District Eleven- what's her name, again?"

"What? Sir, I haven't-"

"Right, her name's Lavena. Lavena Aili. Now, I'm sure that Tyri wouldn't be too happy if she were to find out about that, eh?"

"Please, sir, don't tell her." Archer shook his head, clasping his hands and looking frantically up at the President, who only smiled. He enjoyed toying with people, finding out their darkest secrets and using them against them, hitting them right where it hurt the most. This annual killing-fest, so fittingly called 'games', was his favorite occurrence of the year. And he was never happier than when he was in this seat, bent over this screen, holding their lives in the palm of his hands. Secure in the knowledge that he could obliterate any of these children with a push of a button.

"District Ten. Lysander Hastings- betrayed his ally, Kyla. I find it quite fitting that he was decapitated for his troubles. Eve Epstein. Not that bad of a girl, I believe that she had some sort of training for the Games- but that hardly stopped young Ferro from killing her. I rather like Ferro. He is... bloodthirsty. I like that in a boy. Driania Deelastani and Nikolaus Hendricks- the first is useless and will no doubt die soon enough. And the latter is already dead."

"I think that Anya might survive for awhile, sir," Archer volunteered. "She seems fierce enough."

"Shut up. Now it gets interesting- Tinder Sedenworth. Rosemarie is nothing special, not even worth mentioning, but _him_. He's a _Career._ From District Twelve. Something I never thought I would ever hear of." He chuckled. "Brave of him, to dare trespass in the territory of the Careers. I almost hope he will win, simply to see what will happen. How the masses will react."

He frowned and looked up at Archer. "Remind me again why you were here?"

"I, um... never mind. Sir. Have a g-good day, sir." He bowed and hurried out, visibly trembling with fear. The president smirked, then turned back to the screen, brushing his fingers against the touch-sensitive pad embedded in the table next to the luminous screen. Flicking between scenes from live-feed cameras in the arena itself, he watched Fleece and Rosa making out for a few seconds before shaking his head and moving onto the next scene.

The District Three kids, Servic and Millie, stood at an intersection in the maze, looking back and forth and gesturing to each other. There was no sound, but it was clear that they were trying to figure out which way to go. The president's fingers hovered over the controls, then stabbed a small, red button. The walls of the maze around the two kids started to shift, prompting screams and frantic scurrying around from them.

_How very like bugs they are. I could crush them right now. _

Though it did tempt him greatly, there was the audience to consider. He somehow doubted that they would be all that happy if he were to randomly kill these two in such an arbitrary way. Plus the citizens of the Capitol always had had a weakness for a star-crossed lovers story, which was what popular opinion held to be the case with the two Tributes from District Three.

Once, over twenty years ago, this weakness had led to a rebellion. Two Tributes, apparently in love, had refused to let death separate them. They had threatened suicide- which would have, unfortunately, left the Games without a victor, as they were the last two left- and as a result the head Game-maker had let them go. And these two had gone on to incite a rebellion that had killed the president of that time and wreaked havoc throughout Panem.

The rebellion had only lasted for a year. It was almost laughably easy for a former Peacemaker and Capitol lawmaker- him, of course- to take charge and remove the rebels, executing some and making others into avoxes.

The president had come to power then and had no plans about leaving office any time soon. The Hunger Games had been interrupted for only a year- this year would have been the 99th Games if the rebellion hadn't happened- but in the end, the Capitol had succeeded, as always, proving that resistance was futile.

He spun his chair around, laughing. Then he switched the view on the screen again, this time settling on the District Nine boy, who was alone. Another button push and fireballs were falling around Romulus- an ancient tradition, dating back to from before the second rebellion. But just because it was relatively old didn't mean that the audience didn't enjoy watching Tributes run around frantically, trying to avoid flaming balls falling from the sky.

_Seven kids dead so far. We're more than a fourth of the way there. _

_I wonder who will win?_

Either way, it would be amusing to watch them. Watch them kill and wound and burn and starve and die, watch them run around and try to survive, watch them love each other- if it could be called love. It was more like a pure animal instinct, an urge to copulate in a life-or-death situation.

The president yawned, then switched off the screen. _It's lunch time, I suppose. And there's always this afternoon to torture them. And tomorrow. Ah, yes... tomorrow._

Had any of the Tributes currently trapped in the arena ben able to hear him, they would have been rather disturbed to hear the dark, ominous chuckle that bubbled up from his throat at that thought.

* * *

**Pure filler. Sorry if that was boring for you. Review please!**

**Oh, and it might be a few days until the next chapter comes out... my mom wants me to stop spending so much time on the computer and is considering limiting my time on said technological device to the weekends. Which would be terrible. So yeah.**


	15. Chapter 15: Heroes and Demons

**Chapter fourteen. Review please.**

* * *

**Day four, part three**

Andrew wasn't sure, but it seemed like the maze was trying to lead him somewhere. He hadn't passed any side passages for awhile, and the ground was covered with freshly turned-up earth, indicators that the walls had recently moved. It made him wonder what exactly the Capitol had in mind for him. Not that it really mattered, and it wasn't like he even cared at this point.

Avi was dead. She was killed by Rydel and Andrew hadn't been able to help her.

Her body had been taken from him before it had even gotten cold, lifted into the sky by one of those merciless hovercraft that the Capitol sent to do clean up after their dirty work. Because God forbid that they should soil their own hands by dealing with the leftovers of their crimes. And now, because of the Capitol, Avi was dead and he was alone...

He shook his head, trying to dispel these rather maudlin thoughts. _You are being illogical. Calm down and think rationally. _

First of all, he was alone, in a maze, and lost. That was a fairly major worry. He also had no food or water, as the packs at the camp had been taken by Millie and Servic when they'd left. At least he hadn't failed there- those two had gotten away, and as far as he knew, they were safe.

A slightly less vital concern was the fact that he was covered in Avi's blood. Sure, it wasn't like he really cared about how he looked, but from the glimpses of himself he had caught in the reflections on the glassy walls, he made a rather terrifying sight, clothes and skin splashed with dried blood. On second thought, that might be an advantage- disarming anyone sneaking up on him just long enough for him to react. But it was quite uncomfortable, with blood crusting on his skin- some of it his, most of it Avi's.

He paused at a bend in the path. Was that... a body on the ground, there in front of him?

Drawing his knife, he edged around the wall, prepared to strike at the first hint of danger. One glance was enough to tell that there was no need for a weapon.

_My God... how many bleeding girls am I going to see today?_

He sheathed the knife and carefully knelt next to the girl. She was slumped against the wall, eyes half-closed. Blood from a wound in her shoulder had stained her dark grey outfit and soaked into the ground around her. Her skin, usually a rich olive brown, was deathly pale.

"...Kyla?"

She stirred a bit, but didn't open her eyes.

_Great. Just freaking great._ He resisted the urge to swear out loud and pulled an extra shirt out of his pack, unknowingly mirroring the actions of Lysander, almost twenty-four hours ago. He ripped it into several long strips, then cautiously lifted her arm.

_The wound doesn't seem too deep... and it's in a bit of an awkward place for a bandage. Not sure if I could tie it securely- or if tying it would even help. Maybe it'd be better if her arm was in a sling... the wound's almost stopped bleeding, anyways._

Whoever had wounded her had missed the major artery in her shoulder- what was that called, again? Brachial artery, perhaps. Anyways, there wasn't any real danger of her bleeding to death. She had probably collapsed from shock. Her collarbone, on the other hand, had gotten rather badly fractured. The chances of her arm being useable if- _when_- she woke up were rather slim, but if she kept it still it shouldn't hurt too much.

Without realizing it, Andrew had started thinking as if he was going to be with the District Nine girl for a long time. He wasn't sure that forming _another_ alliance was a very good idea, but he had to save Kyla. Just letting her die would be... wrong.

_Whatever. I'll make sure she's fine and then, when she wakes up, I'll leave._

Of course, he knew that that wasn't true. She'd wake up and still be weak, still be too defenseless for him to just leave her. And then he'd have to protect her and eventually he wouldn't be _able_ to leave her.

But right now he couldn't worry about that. He had to make sure she got better, or none of that would matter.

* * *

Somewhere, in a dark room in an underground bunker in the Capitol, a man pressed a button.

At first, there was no effect. But then the cameras zoomed in on a tiny hatch on the golden horn at the center of the maze that had, until now, gone unnoticed. Slowly, soundlessly, the hatch opened, sliding up into the golden metal and revealing an ominously dark hole.

Initially there was no sign of any change. The birds kept singing, the sun kept shining, and the (artificial) sky was still cloudless. Then in the darkness, something stirred. _Something_ stuck its nose out, then emerged into the sunshine on slightly unsteady legs. It was built generally like a dog, with four legs and a canine-like head and long, vicious looking teeth.

The main difference between it and a normal dog was that it was made entirely of metal.

This creature was followed by first one, then another of its brethren. Soon, there was a whole pack of them, milling around, sunlight glinting off their shiny metal hides. Their eyes were a merciless, blank red, the only spot of color on their metallic bodies.

As if an inaudible signal had sounded, the creatures suddenly all turned to face the entrance to the maze. There was a moment of tense silence, then they all lept forward simultaneously, flooding into the maze like a great silver river. The only noise they made was the slight thud of their paws on the ground and a faint, high-pitched hum that might have been the gears and electrical pathways of their neural circuits.

The hunters had been released.

* * *

"We can't stay here forever, you know."

"Ne, whyever not?"

Zana rolled her eyes. "It would be super easy for someone to sneak up on us. And it's too predictable, staying in one place for too long. Predictable is bad."

The two girl had been camped in a clearing not far from the maze for a few days now, ever since Zana had gotten out of the maze and ran into Fiore. It was a _nice_ clearing, of course- a tiny brook running through one corner, tall trees all around, and firm, dry soil that was surprisingly comfortable to sleep on. Zana would have been lying had she said she would not regret leaving this place. But survival outweighed comfort, and staying too long in one place was a sure way to get kicked into the afterlife.

"Ne, but no one has found us yet, have they?"

"That doesn't mean anything! And when they do find us? They will, you know. What'll we do? We have no plan of attack, no defenses set up, _nothing_!"

"Ne, that is true." Fiore paused, a thoughtful look on her face. Almost imperceptibly, that look changed to one of alarm. "Do you hear that?"

"No. What are you-" Zana broke off. "Yeah, I hear that." There was a soft, drumming sound coming from the direction of the maze, like footsteps, only- only there were so _many _of them, like a crowd was rushing towards them...

"What do you think that is, ne?"

"I don't know. But why don't we get into a tree? Grab the pack, too. Just in case." Zana looked around, then pointed to a tall elm with sturdy branches. "There! That one's perfect."

She grabbed the pack from Fiore's hands and tossed it up, smiling with satisfaction as it looped around a branch and stayed. She grabbed the lowest branch and hoisted herself up, then realized that Fiore was still on the ground, looking up at her.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked, frowning.

"Ne... um, I can not... climb trees."

_Are you fucking serious?_ Zana jumped down and grabbed Fiore's hand. "Fine. I'll help you up."

"Aw, you will? That's so sweet of you~"

"Whatever." She cupped her hands and held them at about the height of her knees. "I'll boost you up, but you'll have to grab the branch yourself. Just, um... hold on and try and get your leg up, okay?"

"Okay..." Fiore stepped onto Zana's proffered hands, making her wince and shuffle her feet, trying to get a sturdier stance- Fiore was heavier than she looked. The District Seven girl grabbed the branch and, after a few moments of panting and kicking, managed to get one leg up. Meanwhile, Zana was nervously glancing back and forth between her partner and the noise, which was getting closer and closer.

"Hurry _up_," she muttered through clenched teeth, wincing as Fiore pushed down on her already sore arms.

Finally she managed to swing herself up. "Ne, I did it!" she called down cheerfully.

"Great." Zana grabbed the branch and pulled herself up, ignoring the protests of her aching shoulders. One glance down was enough to tell her that they weren't high enough.

Fiore must have seen Zana's expression, because she wilted a bit. "We are going to have to do this again, ne?"

"No problem," she replied, forcing a smile on to her face. Fiore was right. At this height, anyone with a sword could easily attack them, and failing that, could chop down the branch they were standing on. "We can just climb up to the next one. I'll boost you again, 'kay?"

But Fiore wasn't listening to her. The brunette's eyes were fixed on something behind Zana, her face a mask of surprise and horror. A feeling of trepidation rising in her, Zana turned her head and looked down...

...straight into the glowing red eyes of some kind of robot dog.

_"Holy mother of fuck!"_ Zana scrambled backwards, almost toppling off the branch. Luckily, she managed to grab onto Fiore before she fell- which was good, since that _thing_ down there didn't look all that friendly. Heart pounding, she risked another glance down at the robot. As if in response to her motion, it leaped up at them, jaws snapping and paws scrabbling at the smooth bark of the tree.

_"Shitsitshitshitshit..."_

Somehow- she couldn't quite remember how, it was all a blur of adrenaline and fear- the two girls got up to the next branch higher, then the next. It was only once they were twenty feet off the ground- and away from the creature- that they finally stopped, panting and clutching each other like their lives depended on it.

Zana was the first to recover. The robot-thing had stopped trying to climb up after them, something that she thanked whatever gods might exist for, but it had been joined by another, identical to it. Both were sitting, gazing up at the tree with the two humans perched precariously above them. She cautiously leaned over and looked around- no sign of anything else. If there were more of these robots, they were off w=chasing other Tributes right now.

_Two robots for two girls, huh? Makes sense, I guess._

"I... I don't wanna die, Zana..." Fiore sobbed, clinging to the blonde, face buried in her shoulder.

Despite- or perhaps because of- the situation they were in, Zana was hyper aware of how Fiore's body was pressed so _closely_ against hers. She couldn't help but be a little... excited by that. There was no denying that she was attracted to the girl, but this was hardly the time or place for it. Even if the other girl had made it perfectly clear that she was interested as well.

And then Fiore turned her tear-stained face up to her, soft pink lips half-parted, and Zana couldn't help it anymore. She leaned in and kissed her, right on those lips- she'd wanted to do that ever since she first met the infuriating little girl, whether she'd admitted it to herself or not.

"It's gonna be alright, Fiore," she whispered as she pulled back, heart pounding faster than even her fear of the robot dog had made it beat.

Fiore's purple eyes were wide. "Ne, I _knew_ you liked me!"

"What_ever_." Zana shoved her away, blushing. "Don't get used to it, bitch."

"Aw, Zana's such a tsundere..."

"The hell does that even mean?"

"Ehehe~" Fiore glanced down at the two robot-dogs, who were still staring up at them with mechanized patience. She grinned at Zana. "Ne, ne, while we are still stuck up here, we may as well do that again. Keep us entertained, ne?"

Zana shrugged as if she didn't care, but responded readily enough when Fiore wrapped her arms around her again and pulled her in for another, longer kiss.

* * *

One of the downsides of working alone was that there was even less of a warning if someone- or some_thing_, for that matter- was sneaking up on you. Romulus had figured that out fairly early on, but hadn't thought it that big of a deal.

Until now.

Breath rasping in and out of his raw throat, the District Nine boy staggered up a hill, throwing panicked glances behind him as he went. The robot-thing was pursuing him at a clam, steady lope. He had no doubt that it could go _much_ faster, so why was it taking its time with him? Was it _toying_ with him?

Up ahead, he saw his only hope for survival: a rather large, fast-moving river that seemed to cut across the forest area, running parallel to the perimeter of the maze. These things were robots, probably electrically run, and water shorted out electricity... right? He was no technological junkie like those kids from District Three, but that was just basic safety stuff.

If this didn't work, on the other hand, it would be fairly easy pickings for the robot. There was no way he could keep going long enough to get to another safe spot- not that he could think of any others- and he didn't have enough strength left to fight it. He'd been running for about ten minutes now, and chances were that while he tried to cross the river the robot would just leap out and tear him to little bloody scraps. And maybe eat those scraps afterwards.

_Do robots eat?_

He shook his head- that was irrelevant.

Finally, _finally,_ he reached the water. Struggling against the pain in his side- he _had _to get into better shape, assuming he survived this- he slashed through the shallows, stopping once the water reached his waist. He turned, feeling the current tug at his legs, and sighed with relief when he saw that the creature was still standing on the riverbank, not entering the water. It seemed that his gamble had paid off.

_Now... what the hell are those things?_

* * *

**Well, that's all. Another couple! Zana/Fiore! Yay! If you didn't see that coming I wasn't clear enough- I've been setting it up since the training chapters. Kinda.**

**Day four is the longest day in terms of number of chapters- I'm looking at my plot outline right now and there's ANOTHER chapter in this day! Sigh...**

**Anyways, review and let me know what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16: Silent Enemy

**Chapter sixteen. Review or DIE.**

* * *

**Day four, part four**

For the first time since they'd gotten trapped in this chamber yesterday, Rosa was glad that they were in it. Because right now, staying here seemed a much better alternative to being torn apart by a pack of robotic dogs, which was what waited for them on the other side of the wall trapping her and Fleece here. It was actually quite scary, seeing those silver-grey machines just _sitting_ there, waiting... watching...

Okay, that was creepy.

She approached the glass, peering into the soulless red eyes of the robot. It gazed back impassively, regarding her with a cool, emotionless stare.

"Hey, Rosa?"

She whirled, startled. Fleece grinned.

"Did I scare you?"

"N-no..."

He smirked and wrapped his arms around her, then frowned as she struggled away, blushing. "What, don't you like that?"

"Sure I do, Fleece, but don't we have more important things to do than cuddle?"

"...no."

_He can be really annoying sometimes. He's a great guy, sure, but my _god_ he can get on my nerves. _Rosa shook this thought away. "So what were you going to say?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, we haven't got any more food. And all we have is a bottle of water. So we have to get out of here, don't we?"

"There's just that little problem," Rosa replied, indicating the waiting robot on the other side of the wall.

"Right, that..."

And then their discussion was ended quite abruptly by an ominous rumbling noise.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me..."

The wall was slowly sliding aside, revealing the path to freedom- and the robot-dog-thing. Which was staring at them with a not-very-friendly expression, if robots can be said to have expressions.

"The Capitol. They must've heard us and decided to have some fun with us," Rosa said calmly, pulling out a knife and stepping forwards. Fleece, not about to let a girl march into danger while he hung out behind her, drew his sword and joined her.

The robot immediately sprang, metal teeth gleaming in the sun. Rosa screamed and dodged, striking with her knife at the robot's exposed throat as it landed heavily between her and Fleece. Or at least, she tried to. The creature turned, faster than Fleece would've thought possible for something so big, and swiped at Rosa with a single, gigantic metal paw. It hit her on the side, driving the breath out of her and throwing her against the wall.

Fleece let out a cry of rage at the sight of the redhead slumped against the glassy wall and brought his sword down with all the force eh could muster, aiming at the robot's head. It was too quick for him, though, and his sword hit the dirt with a dull thump, sending up a small cloud of dust. Almost simultaneously, it turned on Fleece, one of its paws darting out and striking him in the leg. He winced- that thing had seriously sharp claws.

"Damn you, you son-of-a-bitch!" he muttered, staggering but staying on his feet. He lunged with the sword, but his foot slipped and he went down, barely scratching the metal casing on the thing's head.

The robot lept, pinning him to the ground. It was remarkably light, considering that it was made out of metal, but it still took almost all of Fleece's strength to keep it from tearing his throat out.

_I am going to die. _

But then his hand, scrabbling in the dirt next to him, hit something hard. It took him a few second to realize what it was: Rosa's knife, which she'd dropped when she fell.

He grabbed it and stabbed the robot, sinking the knife up to its hilt in the mess of wires that made up its underside. A shower of sparks fell, some landing on Fleece's bare arms and making him wince. He held on, steadily drawing the knife up through the creature, cutting its inner workings practically in half.

Finally he was able to shove it off him. It hit the ground and lay on its side, twitching and smoking slightly. Its red eyes dimmed, then went out entirely as it collapsed into a pile of melted wires and metal.

Fleece stood there for a couple of seconds, panting and clutching his leg, which was oozing blood from where the robot had hit him. Then he remembered Rosa. By the time he turned around, she was sitting up, one hand to her head.

"Fleece? What happened?" Her eyes fell on the robot and she gasped. "My God... are you okay?" She stood up, then had to put out a hand to keep herself from falling. Fleece was at her side in an instant, eyes dark with concern.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah... bit dizzy, is all." She glanced down at the growing red stain in his light brown pants. "You're bleeding."

"Nothing serious. Really." He grabbed her hand. "We're free now, that's all that matters. All we have to do now is get out of this maze."

"Yeah. And if we run into any more of those, we know what to do, right?" She grinned up at him, then kissed him softly. "We'll be fine, Fleece," she teased. "I'll protect you from the big bad robotic wolves."

Laughing, Fleece let her pull him down the path, trying not to let her know exactly how much his leg hurt.

* * *

Walter had always been afraid of heights. So when the robots pursuing him chased him to the edge of a cliff, he pulled up short.

"Thanks a lot, o author who is controlling my every move," he muttered. "What, couldn't I just die peacefully in my sleep? You have to make me suffer, too? You're terrible. I bet you're making me die like this so the readers will laugh. Is that what I am to you? Just a way to get people to laugh? I hate you."

The robots (_three of them, of course the author would do that to me_) came up behind him, tails twitching and red eyes gleaming. He turned, hands out. "Good doggie... nice doggie... don't hurt Walter."

Growl...

"Okay, okay, I am backing away..." Walter stepped back eyes wide. _Dogs and cliffs. Thank you _so_ much, author dearest. _

And then his foot caught on a root at the edge of the cliff and he lost his balance. Arms windmilling, mouth open in a shriek, he plummeted off the edge of the cliff. He had time for onlyone more thought before the sharp rocks below erased his life.

_Great. The author gives me the lamest death. How very nice._

* * *

The cannon boom made Millie jump. "Someone just died!" she gasped.

"Y-yeah. They did." Servic shrugged and adjusted the bag on his shoulders. "Are we going to camp here?"

"No, no... I bet we're really super close to the edge of the maze. So let's keep going." But Millie kept glancing behind, clearly very nervous. She had every right to be, too- they had both seen those robotic dogs patrolling the arena, though luckily they hadn't come into contact with any yet. That was one good thing about being in the maze. They could see anyone approaching from a distance (as long as they paid attention) and the glass walls provided a barrier between them and any enemies.

"Well, if we do get to the edge of the maze, shouldn't we maybe stay inside until we're sure there isn't a threat?" Servic asked. In the days since he'd been around Millie- first in the Capitol, during training, and now in the arena with her- he'd managed to overcome his stammer (at least around her) and grow more comfortable around her.

She still intimidated him a bit, if only because she was so intense, but he sometimes found himself actually having conversations with her, without tripping over his own feet or saying something stupid.

"Good idea, Sparky." Millie turned and smiled, an odd look on her face. "What would I ever do without you, huh?"

"I- I, um..."_ Dammit_. He was blushing, looking down at the ground with embarrassment.

She laughed. "You're the best." And without waiting for a reply, she threw her arms around him and squeezed. Her hug was strong enough to make his side hurt, but he gingerly lifted his own arms and hugged her back. He couldn't feel her, though he was fairly sure she'd be _warm_, and it wasn't like he'd ever really seen the point of hugging, but the simple action made her smile.

"Ow, you're breaking my ribs!" he gasped as she grinned up at him, hugging even harder.

"Hehe..." Millie let go and smoothed out her shirt, which had gotten a bit wrinkled. "Shall we continue?"

"Sure."

* * *

"So tell me about your family."

Anya frowned. "Why?"

"I dunno," Jack said, shrugging. "It'll give us something to talk about while we're here doing nothing." The two of them were sitting under a small overhang at the edge of the river, hiding out from the robots that they'd spotted before. Like Romulus, they'd figured out that water was a major deterrent for them, and so had decided that hanging out right next to the water was the best idea.

"Okay. Well, my parents died when I was younger, and my three sisters and I live with my aunt. She's sick, though, and it's hard to pay for her medicine sometimes, but we deal with it as best we can, you know? Like, what else can you do?" She shrugged, then looked at him thoughtfully. "You know, I never really thought about this, but if I die, there's no way they can survive on their own. I dropped out of school to work and try to pay for stuff, but they're too young to work."

"How old are they?"

"Thirteen. All of them."

"Triplets?" Jack asked incredulously. "That's insane."

"Yeah... they're the only reason I want to win the Games. I don't care about fame or being on tv- though we're on tv right now, come to think of it. But... I don't know, I just want to see them again."

The look on Anya's face made Jack want to put his arms around her and comfort her, but the prickly District Eleven girl probably wouldn't have taken very well to that. So instead he sighed, shifting his feet and feeling the riverbank mud squelch beneath his shoes.

"Well, we've got that much in common- my parents are dead, too. My older brother Cole, he's the one I volunteered for, he takes care of me and a few other kids- like Julie, she's my adopted sister. She's really nice."

"You volunteered for him?"

"Sure." Jack shrugged. "But hey, it wasn't like I was trying to be a hero or anything. It's just that if he died there'd be no one to take care of Julie or Karyn or Tom or any of the others. So it was just... logic. Their lives versus just mine."

"When you put it that way, it makes sense." Anya frowned. "But by that reasoning I should've let Irulan go to the Games."

"You're still her sister. Would you have really thought about it that way of her life was in the balance?"

"No. And I don't regret my choice, Jack. And I bet you don't, either."

"No. I don't."

_I couldn't regret it. Never. Cole... he's my brother... but he's more than that. If he died, it would be like losing Mom and Dad all over again. And if I was completely honest... that little chain of logic never entered my head when I stood up at the Reaping and volunteered. Right then, right there, all I could think about was keeping him safe._

Jack sat back on his heels. "Think there are any robots around?"

"There might be. We may as well wait until it's dark. Their eyes glow, right? That would make it easier to see them. If it's light out we'd have no warning."

"True." And Jack settled down for a few more hours of waiting.

* * *

"Get me food."

"Get up and get it yourself," Ferro snapped.

"Tinder, get me food."

The District Twelve boy looked up from the corner of the clearing, where he was sharpening his knife. "I'm busy."

"Rydel-"

"No."

Lily pouted. "You guys are so mean." She couldn't ask Saffron, who was standing guard up in a tree, since the food packs were down on the ground and the District Two girl was perched on a tree branch fairly far off the ground. "Fine. I'll get it myself."

"You do that," Ferro replied absentmindedly. Lily frowned. Lately her faithful butler hadn't been all that respectful of her- answering back to her, disobeying orders, even flat-out ignoring her. It was troublesome, but at least she'd know, when she won the Games, that she hadn't lost a good butler. Because Ferro was definitely showing that he was a _bad_ butler.

"So, who are we going to kill next?" Rydel asked as Lily crossed to the bags and pulled out an apple. "I'm beating Tinder so far, aren't I? I've got two and he's only got one."

Tinder scowled. "And you could've had four if you hadn't let Nine and Two escape. If Ferro had let me go on those missions I would've gotten them."

"Big words, Twelve. Especially for someone who can't even beat me in a sword fight," Ferro drawled.

Tinder chose to not reply to that. Mostly because he couldn't trust himself to keep his temper once his mouth was open.

"Um, guys?" Saffron called down from the tree. "There's, um, something coming this way."

Ferro looked up. "What kind of 'something'?"

"Looks like those robot dogs we saw earlier."

"How many?" Rydel asked.

"...I can't count them. There's too many."

The Careers on the ground exchanged nervous glances. "But aren't those things controlled by the Capitol?" Lily asked. "And doesn't the Capitol like us? Why are we getting attacked?"

"For the entertainment of the audience," Ferro replied. He seemed to be the only one there who was completely calm. "Shall we run and hide like cowards or shall we fight them?"

Personally, Lily thought that it would be smarter to run- if there were tons of robots coming their way, what kid of chance did they have against them? But if she said that out loud Ferro would call her weak and probably insult her, so she kept quiet and drew her knife. Which, you know, she had no idea how to use.

_But whatever. I'm too pretty to die, anyways._

The first robot came into view at about the same time that the first fireball fell.

"What the _fuck_?" Rydel screamed as the woods to their right burst into flame. Smoke filled the air, making Lily's eyes stream and throat ache. She was just as confused as the District Four boy, and the reality of this situation hadn't quite sunk in yet. Why would the Gamemakers want to kill them? Everyone knew they were biased for the Careers.

The five Careers were forced to retreat, making their way through the forest and trying to fight off the robots still pursuing them. Lily, who hadn't ever in her life done anything that could qualify as _exercise_, was soon panting, clutching her side. It didn't help that with every breath she was inhaling a lot of smoke.

"Hurry _up_, you bitch," Ferro yelled. "I'll leave you behind if I have too."

She glared at him and struggled on, tripping over fallen branches and trying not to collapse. Just when she couldn't go one step further, the fire died just as suddenly as it had appeared. Lily fell to her knees, coughing, as Ferro turned and scoffed.

"You're pathetic."

The one good side effect of the fire was that it seemed to have burned most of the robots up. Bad planning on the part of the Gamemakers, to be sure, but Lily wasn't complaining. There were still a few of them left, of course, but Ferro and his sword took care of those rather quickly.

"What does this mean?" Saffron asked, wiping the back of her hand against a face blackened with soot. "I thought... my mentor said that the Capitol _wants_ the Careers to win. That we're the Capitol's favorites. Why would they attack us?"

"No idea," Rydel replied.

Lily turned to Ferro. "Well, big guy, got a smart answer to this one?" she asked sarcastically, trying to hide her own fear.

"I already told you. The Capitol's getting bored. They want _entertainment_. That's what the Games are _for_. And if we're totally honest, we haven't exactly been the best. We've only killed what, six people?" Ferro shrugged. "I've been doing my part. I've killed three. It's you guys that're slowing up this team. And by this team I mean me. 'Cause I'm the only one here that's worth anything."

No one argued this, but Lily noticed both Tinder and Rydel glaring at the grey-haired boy, who was nonchalantly cleaning off his sword, apparently unaware of the enmity radiating from everyone else in the group.

_They're not going to let Ferro walk all over them for much longer. And this attack... it's just going to add to the tension,_Lily realized. _We're like a time bomb here. And I sure don't want to see what'll happen when that bomb blows._

* * *

**End of chapter. Review please.**

**17) Walter Redwoods- yep, he's dead. He was a minor character anyways, so...**

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	17. Chapter 18: Cause and Effect

**Well, you know, hopefully I didn't lose any readers over that last chapter. That was REQUESTED by both Fiore and Zana's creators, so don't blame me.**

* * *

**Day Five, Part One**

Tinder hadn't slept at all that night.

He lay there in the darkness, one hand on the hilt of his knife- just in case- while his mind raced. There was no doubt in him that he had to do something... he just wasn't quite sure what to do. Yet.

_The Capitol's turned on us. With good reason, too. We- the Careers- haven't exactly been living up to our reputation as far as killing everybody goes. I really didn't pick a good year to volunteer, did I? These guys are weak._

There was Ferro, of course- he was the paradigm of what a Career should be. Tinder could respect the District One boy because even if he was a total jerk, it wasn't all talk when he said he could win the Games. Ferro honestly had the skill to beat most, if not all, of the people in here.

But then there was Lily- a useless brat who depended on Ferro to survive. And Saffron wasn't much better. Sure, she didn't whine like Lily, and she wasn't all that bad at combat, but it was obvious that she wasn't prepared to kill anyone. Rydel wasn't that bad, but Tinder was fairly sure that he could take him in a fight. And besides, that idiotic, swimming-obsessed boy had failed twice to make a complete kill. He had let that upstart from District Two- the one who thought he was too good for the Careers- drive him off. And that reflected poorly on the rest of the Careers. It implied that they were all too weak to properly kill anyone.

_I have no use for this group if the Capitol has turned on them._

The sun was only just peeking over the horizon when Tinder slid out of his sleeping bag, fully dressed and with a knife in his hand. One glance was enough to ascertain that the others were asleep. He stole over to the nearest sleeper- Saffron- and knelt down next to her.

The District Two girl was snoring softly, mouth half-open and bright orange hair spread out under her head. Her button-up shirt had slipped off her shoulder as she slept, revealing the strap of a hot pink lacy bra- awfully unpractical for someone in the Games, but maybe it was her Token. He'd heard of stranger ones.

He clapped a hand over her mouth and slashed his knife across her exposed throat. A spray of blood spattered Tinder's arms as Saffron's eyes flew open and she spasmed, almost throwing him off. He tightened his grip on her, making sure she couldn't scream- though his knife had probably taken care of that already by severing her vocal cords.

Her movements slowed and her green eyes drifted shut again. Tinder relaxed- but he'd forgotten something.

Boom!

_Aw, crap._ Tinder stood back up and drew his sword as Rydel sat up, awoken by the cannon blast. He looked around and caught sight of Tinder with his arms and face covered in Saffron's blood, holding a bloodstained knife and a sword.

"Tinder?" Rydel's gaze fell on Saffron's limp body and his face contorted in rage. "You killed her! What the hell? You traitorous son of a _bitch_! Why?"

"She was useless. Rather like you."

Rydel grabbed his own sword from where it lay next to his sleeping bag and stood. "You're gonna pay for that, Twelve. You can't just go around killing your teammates, you know."

"Says who? You couldn't beat me in a fair fight. Hell, I could beat you blindfolded. With one arm chopped off." Tinder stepped forward, a strange, lightheaded feeling stealing over him- a mixture of exhilaration and confidence. "C'mon, _Four_. Try and beat me"

The blonde boy swung, and Tinder blocked it easily, noting a gap in Rydel's defenses- he swung too hard on the followthrough, he didn't recover fast enough. This was going to be easy. He let Rydel swing his sword around a few more times, then knocked the District Four boy's sword aside and lunged. His sword pierced Rydel's stomach and came out the back in a spray of blood.

Rydel stared at the sword protruding from his torso as if he couldn't quite believe that it was there. His sword fell from his hand with a soft clang as he looked from the rapidly spreading stain on his shirt to Tinder.

"You..." he gasped, falling to his knees. A bubble of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, followed by a thin trickle that spilled over his chin.

"I killed you. Just like I killed her," Tinder replied, pulling his sword out and wiping it on the grass before sheathing it.

Rydel's eyes rolled up in his head so only the whites were visible, then fell backwards. The cannon boomed. Tinder stood above him, unable to tear his eyes away from the blood still spreading across Rydel's light blue shirt.

"Bravo, Twelve."

Tinder whirled, sword unsheathed within seconds. He'd forgotten about Ferro. He had no idea how long the District One boy had been standing there, watching.

"Well done," Ferro continued, clapping sarcastically. "Tell me, Twelve. How's it feel to kill someone? How does it feel to watch them bleed to death on the ground in front of you, huh?" He leaned forwards as if about to tell Tinder a secret, a smirk spreading across his face. "Does it feel good?"

Tinder considered stabbing Ferro- almost tried to, in fact- but decided it wasn't worth the risk. Not now, at least. Ferro saw this and nodded approvingly.

"You're showing some common sense for once, Twelve. Now, if I was you, I'd show some more and start running right about now."

_Yeah, right. _"I'm not a coward," Tinder spat.

"Never said you were, did I? But I'd have thought that you would want to survive this. 'He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day', right?"

_He doesn't even have a _sword_ out._ Tinder charged, sword leveled at the younger boy's throat.

Ferro had his sword out before he could reach him, having drawn it faster than the District Twelve boy would have thought humanly possible. Their swords met with a deafening crash and Tinder was almost thrown back by the force behind Ferro's blow. A few more exchanges like this were enough to convince him that he was way out of his depth.

There was no way he could win this.

He felt a cold, stinging pain in his left thigh and glanced down- Ferro's sword had darted past his defenses and sliced a deep cut in Tinder's leg. It didn't really start hurting for a few seconds, enough time for him to back away, then turn and sprint away.

Tinder wasn't a coward, but he knew when it was time to leave a fight.

* * *

Ferro watched Tinder turn and run, disappearing into the underbrush. He didn't chase after him.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lily sat up, rubbing her eyes. "You woke me up."

_Did she seriously sleep through that whole thing?_

Her eyes fell on the bodies lying in the clearing and her mouth fell open. "Rydel and Saffron...?"

"Dead," Ferro replied brusquely, turning to his employer with his sword still out "Tinder killed them and ran. Which leaves just the two of us, huh?"

Lily frowned. "You're still my butler, Ferro. Don't do anything stupid."

He ignored her. "You make me sick, Lily. Your stuck up ways, the way you act like a total brat. I hate you. The only reason I became your damn _butler_ was because it payed well. I have to resist the urge to slap you every time I see your pathetic little face."

"Ferro!" Lily stood up, eyes snapping with fury. "You're _fired_!"

He laughed scornfully. "You've got to be kidding me. Do you think I give a damn? I'm going to win these Games, Lily. And you're nothing more than an obstacle that's in my way to the top." He advanced on her, sword pointed directly at her pale throat.

She started backing away. "Ferro..."

"I'm tired of serving you, Lily."

"Please..." The point of his sword was now resting almost delicately on her collarbone, a hairsbreadth from the vein pulsing under the translucent skin of her neck. She gulped, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Don't do this..."

He slit her throat with a single, lightning-quick swipe.

Lily's eyes bulged as she fell, blood pouring from her neck. Ferro bent down and calmly slashed his sword across her face, opening another cut that stretched from her left eye to her chin.

"Not so pretty now, are you?" He stabbed her in the chest, then the stomach, then the leg, grinning the whole time. By the time the cannon finally fired, he was covered in Lily's blood- and his former master lay at his feet, an almost unrecognizable bloody heap.

"You aren't- excuse me, you _weren't_ much of a reader, Lily, so I doubt you'll get this part, but bear with me." Ferro sat down next to her, stroking her blonde hair thoughtfully. "This is kinda the same ending as any old generic murder mystery. The detective sits down in an armchair, smoking his pipe, and confidently tells the police-" He paused and smirked.

"The butler did it."

* * *

The third cannon shot was the one that finally woke Kyla. Andrew had carried her down to the side of the river, figuring that it was safer there than being trapped in the maze. Her wound had stopped bleeding, but since she had a fever it was fairly obvious that the wound had gotten infected. He honestly hadn't expected her to wake up, so it was a considerable surprise when her eyes flickered open just as he was leaning down to unwrap the bandage on her shoulder.

"Who're you?" she asked, trying to sit up.

"Andrew. Stay still- I won't hurt you."

She watched him rummaging around in his backpack for a fresh bandage with a bemused expression on her face. "You saved me."

"Indeed."

"So are you going to try to get me killed, too?"

"..."

She frowned. "Are you?"

"No. Is that how you got this?" He indicated her wound.

"Yeah. Ah!" She pulled away as he reached over to pull off her bandage. "Don't touch me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you. If I don't put a new bandage on it'll get even more infected." Andrew wondered why she was so sensitive about him touching her- it was just her _shoulder_- but decided that right after she had woken up was not a good time to badger her with a lot of questions.

"It's infected?"

"...yes."

"Let me see." She unwrapped her shoulder herself- saving Andrew the trouble. The area around the wound was swollen, the flesh red and tender, but it still seemed like she would have a chance at recovery. If, of course, she let Andrew change her bandage.

"Look, I can't let you get sick. I'm already stuck with you so I may as well make sure you survive. So can you just... let me touch your shoulder? I promise I won't do anything else, Kyla."

"Okay, then." She still flinched when his fingers brushed her skin, but let him untie it all the way and slip on the new one.

"There! Done." He sat back and let her readjust her shirt so it covered her shoulder.

"Th-thanks."

He was struck by how _tiny_ she was- he knew she was only twelve, but it didn't look like she could be much taller than five feet, and she was insanely skinny. Admittedly, she was from District Nine, one of the poorer Districts, but Andrew was fairly sure that this went beyond the usual level of malnourishment.

"So, how did you get hurt like this?" he asked.

"Rydel. But Lysander kinda helped." As she told the whole story- how Lysander had led her into Rydel's trap, how the District Four boy had attacked Kyla, but had failed to kill her- Andrew grew increasingly annoyed. How _dare _ that idiotic Career victimize weaker Tributes like that? The blonde scum _had no honor_. This was exactly why Andrew had refused to join the Careers.

"If we see him, I'll kill him for you," he said once she finished.

"That's sweet of you." She lay back down, yawning. "My head kinda hurts."

Andrew frowned. "That may be a side effect of the infection. The best thing to do would be to sleep. Maybe with enough rest-" He stopped and laughed, realizing that she had already fallen asleep. He softly brushed a dark strand of hair from her face, smiling. "Sleep well, Kyla."

* * *

_Today is Astris' tenth birthday._

Romulus' eyes slowly opened. The cannon shots earlier hadn't even made him stir, but the sound of a bird chirping rather loudly in his ear was sufficient incentive to get up.

"Shut up, dumb bird," he mumbled, batting idly at it with one hand. It flew to the next branch, where he couldn't reach it, and continued its early morning serenade.

_Ah, knowing the Capitol it's probably got poisoned claws and can shoot heat rays out of its eyes,_ Romulus thought. He went to slide out of his sleeping bag, then realized that he was still in the tree he had taken refuge in the night before. _Yeah, that probably wouldn't be a good idea._ He carefully dropped his bag, which he'd used as a pillow, to the ground, then followed it. He landed awkwardly, but didn't hurt himself.

"Good morning, everyone!" he called cheerfully, waving up to the sky and the entirety of Panem. "Just another day in the arena, huh? Happy birthday, little sis!"

There was no response- not that he'd expected one, of course.

Romulus was very much aware that, so far, he had been insanely lucky. Just surviving the bloodbath had been close- he'd almost gotten his arm chopped off by someone (Tinder? Rydel?) as he was reaching for a pack. And then there had been the run-in with all of the Careers the day after that. Luckily he'd figured out how to control the maze completely by accident on the first day (he'd tripped, fallen off the path and landed on one of the controller circles, with... surprising but useful results). And the latest brush with death had been with the robot dogs that Capitol had unleashed yesterday.

_Damn, those things were scary. I honestly thought I was going to die._

But here he was, very much alive. For now, at least. And it was his sister's birthday.

And he was stuck in the arena.

_Life's a bitch, ain't it?_

* * *

"Morning, Zana!"

"Mmph..."

"Ne, you snore, did you know that?"

"Do not." Zana opened her eyes. "Anyway, you drool."

"I do _not_ drool, ne," Fiore giggled.

"Hadn't we better get dressed?"

"Only if you want to~"

From Fiore's flirtatious tone of voice, it seemed that Zana had succeeded in convincing her that her feelings towards the District Seven girl were real. So her plan had worked. Then again, Zana reflected as she pulled on her shirt, one never could tell with Fiore. She was... different.

As if to prove this point, Fiore turned back to Zana, hand outstretched. In it was one of her purple hair ribbons.

"Huh?"

"Ne, take it!"

"Why?"

Fiore frowned. "Because I want you to have it. That is why."

"O-okay..." Zana took it, turning it over in her hand. "Why'd you bring your hair ribbons, anyways?"

"They are my Token, ne? And I suppose you could call them my trademark." The brown haired girl shrugged. "Keep it."

Zana had learned by now to simply accept Fiore's abnormalities and move on. It made life a lot easier. "So do you want me to give you something in return?"

"No."

"...okay." She pocketed the hair ribbon and puled on her shoes. Fiore, who was somehow already dressed, was bouncing up and down, half her hair up in the other hair ribbon.

"Ne, where are we going?"

"Somewhere far away. Where no one can find us. Did you hear those cannons earlier?"

"Yes."

"_Three_ people died. Either a tree fell on someone's alliance or the Careers are out hunting. I'm leaning towards the second option, though we may as well leave the forest, too, in case the Capitol _is _ using falling trees as their new weapon."

"So we run away, ne? Let us go!" Fiore paused. "Know any marching songs?"

"...what?"

"You know, to keep us going, ne?"

"..."

"No?"

"...no. No singing."

* * *

**16) Saffron Jelikson- she HAD NO CHARACTER. I'm not joking, she was character-less. So she got killed in her sleep by Tinder. **

**15) Rydel Dewleaf- Not a bad guy, just couldn't see him winning. So Tinder got to be epic and kill two people today.**

**14) Lily Trintia- an annoying brat. A lot of people seemed to hate her, so I hope Ferro killing her was gratifying. **

**Ten people dead... we're almost halfway there! Hope you liked it, review please. Oh, and if you don't hear from me for awhile, I've got random camps all summer. So long stretches of time with no updates/replies to PMs... yeah, it's not that I hate you, its just I don't have access to my computer.**


	18. Chapter 19: Hope and Fear

**Apologies for the long absence, I was away. But I'm back! Yay! If you haven't read the Training Chapters, go do so. It'll make this one easier to understand.**

* * *

**Day Five, Part Two**

When Jack looked up to see Tinder standing behind Anya, sword drawn, the first thing that popped into his mind was _Aw, come on. Didn't we have to deal with him already?_

"Anya..."

"Yes?"

"Turn around _really slowly._"

Anya frowned and looked over her shoulder. She froze when she saw Tinder there. "Shit."

"That's right, Eleven." The District Twelve boy was covered in blood, some of it his own, from the wound visible through a tear in the fabric of his pants. Most of it, however, was probably from at least one of the sources of the three cannon shots that Jack had heard earlier that morning.

Jack drew his knife- it was the only one his alliance had, so unfortunately Anya didn't have a weapon. Tinder didn't react to his motion, instead staring intently at the District Eleven girl.

"You're Anya, right?"

"...yes."

"The one who volunteered for her sister?"

"Yes."

Jack didn't really understand why Tinder was stalling like this- he could've killed both of them and been gone by now- but anything that delayed certain death was good enough for him any day. He started inching sideways, trying to get out out Tinder's line of sight so he could attack him with his knife and maybe (not likely) wound him.

Tinder swung around to face him, scowling. "I see you, Six. Don't even try."

"Jack."

"...what?"

"My name is _Jack_. Not Six." He didn't know why, but hearing Tinder refer to him by his District number was really annoying. It wasn't like he didn't deserve to have an identity if he was in the Hunger Games, even if he was fighting against twenty-three other Tributes who he had never met in his life. Twenty-three others- well, twelve others, now- that had never met _him_ in their lives.

_Yeah, but the least you can do is learn the names of the people you're killing. They deserve that much, don't they?_

If Tinder was at all affected by Jack's retort, he didn't show it. "Whatever. I'm still going to kill you, no matter what you're called."

Throughout this exchange, Anya had been cautiously bending down, reaching for one of the longer branches that she'd been using as a walking stick. On her own, it wouldn't have have been much of a defense against a _sword_, but at this point Jack would've welcomed any help at all from anyone.

Then Tinder swung his sword up, the long blade tracing a glittering arc through the afternoon sunlight. Jack brought the knife up, knowing that it was useless but unable to just stand there and face his death without a fight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Anya move towards Tinder, stick in her hand, but he knew she was going to be too late...

* * *

"Aw, shit..."

Romulus stood over the remains of his pack, a dismayed expression on his face. At his feet, amid the destruction, the culprit gazed impassively up at him, a deceptive aura of cuteness around it.

"Come _on_. That was my last water bottle." He knelt, sifting through the scraps left behind by the raccoon-like creature sitting in front of him. He'd only turned his back for a few minutes- he'd been relieving himself in a nearby bush- and when he had come back he'd found _this_.

_And all my food's gone, too, _he thought despairingly. _Not that there was much of it to begin with. This thing probably ate that apple in about a second. 'That apple' being the only food I had._

He grabbed the animal by the scruff of its neck and lifted it, frowning. It didn't resist him at all, even when he turned it over and ran his fingers through the soft white fur on its stomach. While its head looked like that of a raccoon- a black bandit mask of fur surrounding small, beady eyes, and pointed ears- the body looked more like that of a monkey, with a long, prehensile tail and dark grey fur on top shading to white beneath.

"You little fiend, you, now I have nothing to eat," Romulus muttered under his breath, glaring at the creature. And all he'd had to eat for five days now were apples and bread.

_What wouldn't I give for some _real_ food... steak... bacon..._ He froze as an idea struck him, then glanced thoughtfully back at the animal in his hand. _I wonder how monkey tastes..._

As if it could sense his thoughts, the animal started to squeak and squirm around, tiny paws batting uselessly at the air.

It took maybe thirty seconds for him to strangle the creature, and once it was dead Romulus was faced with another dilemma: how to cook the animal. He couldn't eat it _raw_, after all, but he didn't have the materials necessary to build a fire and render the monkey-thing edible.

"Ah! I know!" he said, grinning at the dead animal in his hands. "I'll go find another Tribute and steal their matches!" Then he paused and frowned. "Hm... no... what if they get pissed and attack me? I haven't even got a knife. Maybe I'd be better off just asking them. And offering to share the meat with them. Yeah, that should work."

_...unless it's the Careers. In which case I will run like hell._

Satisfied with this plan, he started moving east, to where he had heard voices earlier that morning. Presumably there would be some other Tributes there.

* * *

Tinder's sword was inches away from the District Six boy's head when a cheerful voice rang out through the clearing, making him freeze.

"Hey, look, I caught a monkey-thing. Wanna share it?" Romulus stepped into the clearing and caught sight of Tinder and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes flicked over the scene, apparently appraising it. Tinder, still aware of the knife in Jack's hands, turned to face the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Anya asked before he could say anything.

"Romulus. Need any help with this idiot?" He gestured to the District Twelve boy with the dead animal.

Tinder bristled. "Hey, now, no need for insults."

"I'd say the odds are a bit more even now, eh, Tinder?" Jack asked, pointing the knife at him. "Care to continue this fight?"

Though he _was_ an amazing fighter, three against one was pushing it. Tinder probably couldn't defeat all of them without being wounded- and an injury wasn't something he could afford right now. But if he didn't aim to kill...

He spun, sword knocking the knife out of Jack's hand. It fell to the ground by Tinder's feet and he scooped it up. Instead of going for Jack, since Anya and her stick were too close, he turned and charged at Romulus. The District Nine boy had no time to react- Tinder's sword bit into his shoulder and ripped free, eliciting a howl of pain from the dark haired boy. A spray of blood coated Tinder for the third time that day as he dashed off into the forest, leaving the three of them behind.

_Ah, my clothes are completely ruined now..._

He stopped in a clearing, glancing behind to make sure that no one was following him. In a way, he almost hoped they were- it would be much easier to kill them if they came one by one. But no such luck. The clearing and surrounding forest were deserted.

Well, then. The first order of business was probably to wash off his shirt- all the dried blood on it was making it stiff and itchy. He stripped it off, then unzipped his pack to look for a clean one. The only one in there was white, which wasn't exactly the best camouflage in a forest setting, so he shrugged and decided to go shirtless.

_Whatever. It's not like anyone can see me. Besides, you know, the cameras. And by extension all of Panem._

Tinder leaned back against a tree, sword and two knives next to him. He set to cleaning the blood off of them, making sure they were still sharp. The cannon hadn't gone off (yet) so it seemed that the wound he'd given Romulus had been fatal.

_If he survive that, he's one tough kid. He's what, only fifteen, right?_

_Isn't that... wouldn't Sereph have been that old by now?_

He frowned. Where had that thought come from? The idea that he was fighting and killing children around the same age as his now-dead little brother would've been hadn't ever really sunk in for him. But then again, the accident that had killed Sereph and both of Tinder's biological parents had been eight years ago. Almost half his life. If he had forgotten things like the fact that his kid brother would've been fifteen now, well, that was only to be expected, right?

_I didn't forget. I never forgot a thing._

Tinder had been ten years old and at a friend's house when the town officials had come and told him that he was an orphan. Being an innocent looking little kid had guaranteed that he was adopted almost right away, by a nice, fairly well-off family that lived right by the town center. With the great adaptability that is an inherent trait of young children, he had learned to call the elderly couple 'Mom' and 'Dad' and almost forget that he had ever had anyone else.

Yet he had left these 'parents' without no compunction whatsoever. He hadn't even said goodbye.

_If Sereph and Mother and Father were still alive... would I have even considered volunteering for the Games?_

And then another thought. _I wonder if Mom and Dad- my adoptive ones- are cheering me on?_

Tinder shook his head. These thoughts were pointless and illogical and would only weaken him. There was no reason for him to dwell on the past like this- what was done, was done, and there was nothing he or anyone could do to change it.

He stood up, swinging his pack over his shoulder and pocketing the knives. There was no point in him staying here any longer, so he might as well try to get to the river and wash his shirt so he would actually have something to wear.

He couldn't know- wouldn't ever know- that miles away, in front of a t.v. set in District Twelve, a man and a woman with white hair and wrinkles sat, watching for a glimpse of their adoptive son. Watching and praying that he could come home safely.

* * *

Kyla's eyes were bright with fever, and her skin was flushed a mottled red. Andrew unwrapped her bandages for the third time that day, almost afraid of what he would see.

The cloth was already sticky with pus, and the flesh beneath it was oozing an opaque white liquid. The wound itself was an angry red, ringed with greenish-grey flesh with blackened edges. And the stink- it smelled so bad that Andrew wanted to drop the bandages and run to the nearest water source and scrub until even the _memory_ of that stench was gone. He couldn't even imagine how bad it must have been for Kyla, though in her present condition she didn't seem to be noticing much.

"Well, it's getting worse," he said as he rewrapped it with a fresh bandage. Talking about it helped him objectify it, make this almost as if it weren't real. "And all this in just over a day... no doubt infection set in shortly after the wound was made. Perhaps Rydel's sword had contaminants on it. That'd be typical, I guess- sloppy Careers, never taking care of their weapons. Probably never even considered cleaning his blade. The wound shows signs of gangrene. Located as it is, relatively close to the heart and major arteries, there are possibilities of blood poisoning."

She blinked slowly, tilting her head to one side. "What?"

He'd probably spoken too quickly for her. "Never mind. How are you feeling."

Kyla considered this for a few seconds. "Cold," she finally said.

"An effect of the fever." He reached for his sleeping bag, unzipped it fully, and carefully draped it over her. "Better."

"Yeah... thank you for taking care of me, Andrew."

"No problem." He sat down next to her, sighing. "I'm just sorry I can't do more. I don't know much about medicine at all-"

"It's the most anyone's ever done for me," she replied softly, cutting him off. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Really? What about parents and stuff?" Probably not the most tactful question, he realized, but it was too late to take it back now.

She flinched. "I don't... my m-mother died giving birth to my b-baby brother. And my father..." She trailed off, tears rising in her eyes.

"Kyla?" A terrible suspicion was rising in him. "Does he... hurt you?"

She nodded.

"My god, Kyla. I-I..."

"He hits me. With his belt. And then he pushes me onto the floor." she said, without expression.

"Does he abuse you, you know... sexually?" he asked solemnly, praying that his hunch was wrong, praying that this little girl hadn't been hurt like that...

"Yes." Tears started spilling over her cheeks. "I don't want him to do that to my brother. I don't want him to hurt Bentley. I can't let him. Bentley... h-he's all that I _have_." Her voice was choked with sobs as she struggled to sit up. "I have to protect Bentley!" She fell back, arms too weak to support her.

Andrew soothed her as she cried, wrapping his arms around her and letting her tears soak into his shirt. It was probably the fever talking at this point- she was becoming delirious- but he had no reason to doubt what she had just told him. It all added up- how she didn't want anyone to touch her, how she was so quiet and scared of so much...

_I hate that man. I hate him. What kind of sicko would do that to his own daughter?_ He sighed, squeezing Kyla one last time, then laying her back down. He brushed the hair out of her face, feeling her skin, damp with sweat. She'd fallen into a fitful sleep again, which was hopefully doing her body some good.

A thud behind him made him scramble to his feet and reach for his knife- though the blade of that was chipped and dull after only five days in the arena. Low quality steel, no doubt. The source of the noise was a small silver parachute, a few yards away.'

He dashed over to it, praying that there was something useful in it. Inside was a tiny bottle clearly marked 'For Use on Infected Wounds', so apparently whoever had sent it had had the foresight to state the obvious.

_Thank God._ Andrew uncorked the bottle and sniffed it- it didn't smell like poison, not that he would've known what that smelled like, anyways. He went back to where Kyla lay and knelt down next to her, unwrapping the bandages that he had just put on. Half of the liquid- it wasn't a very big bottle- he poured directly onto the wound, and the rest he poured onto the bandages before carefully reapplying them. The stuff was clear, with a sharp, clean smell that wasn't all that unpleasant.

_This should help. This had _better_ help, or she's going to die._

* * *

Ferro sat in the center of what had been the Career camp, in front of the cold ashes of last night's fire. His sword was out but lying next to him, steel blade still flecked with Lily's blood.

He had known that eventually someone would snap and turn on the group. He had even expected it to be Tinder- the District Twelve boy just didn't seem like a very patient person. But he hadn't expected it to be so _soon._

_It was probably the Capitol attack that made up his mind_, Ferro mused. _Robots and fireballs have a way of stressing people out._

But whatever. Saffron, Rydel, and Lily were all dead now, and it didn't really matter who had killed them- they were just as dead either way. Tinder killing someone was just one less person that Ferro would have to kill.

"Attention all Tributes!"

Ferro jumped about a foot in the air, hand on his sword in a heartbeat. But it was only the voice of Archer Blyss, head gamemaker, booming across the arena form some hidden speaker.

"This is the fifth day of the 98th Hunger Games. There are thirteen of you left. Tomorrow, at sunrise, there will be a feast at the center of the maze. Each of you will receive a bag with something you need in it. To those who have survive thus far, good job. I look forward to seeing you all at the feast tomorrow. May the odds be _ever _in your favor~"

_Hm... I don't really need anything, do I? But whatever. _Ferro yawned and stretched, glancing up at the sky. Night was coming soon.

_Who shall I kill next?_

He started running through his mental list of the Tributes that were still left. There was Tinder, of course- but he could wait to finish off that idiot. The District Two boy, Andrew, was still around, too, as were both the girl and the boy from District Three- Servic and Millie. Those two had been far too weak to join the Careers, though District Three Tributes were sometimes recruited for their technological expertise. Andrew, though... he could've joined the Careers. He certainly had the training for it, otherwise he wouldn't have ever been able to beat Rydel.

Both of the Tributes from District Six were still alive, too. There was the girl, Zana, with the huge boobs (the only impression he had of her, unfortunately). And Jack, of course. He'd been part of the first alliance that the Careers had attacked, and he'd escaped right before Ferro had killed Eve. Fleece and Anya and Rosa had been there, too.

Ah, Rosa. It had been slightly amusing how she had glared at Tinder all through training, calling him things like 'traitor' and 'coward'. Personally, Ferro had thought that what TInder was doing was almost admirable- you know, challenging the status quo and all that. The fact that he was from District Twelve didn't invalidate his training- and if he'd been a bad fighter, Ferro wouldn't have let him into the Careers.

The other person to have escaped the Careers had been Romulus of District Nine. That still annoyed Ferro, not the least because _he_ had been the one closest to killing Romulus when that idiot had pulled the stunt with the walls. Romulus had that same 'I-could-care-less-that-I'm-in-the-Hunger-Games' attitude that Ferro had noticed in the brat from District Seven, Fiore. She actually _really_ pissed him off... she was just so weird. And she had _purple eyes._

Romulus' District partner Kyla, on the other hand, had been rather cute. And the fact that a twelve year old like her had made it as far into the Games as she had meant that she was a lot stronger than she looked.

Thirteen Tributes left, including him.

_Pssh, this'll be easy. I can kill all of them, no problem._

* * *

**So there's a feast next chapter! Yay! Jack keeps on almost getting killed and then miraculously surviving... lucky him.**

**Reveiw please.**


	19. Chapter 21: Profit and Loss

**Reference in the first scene is from nb1998's story 'The 27th Hunger Games'. Hope you don't mind that I used that, nb1998. **

******Review please, everyone!**

* * *

**Day six, part one**

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"Well... no."

"..."

"But Sparky, we can't afford to not come."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

Millie sighed. "What if there's something we desperately need to survive? What if the Capitol's gonna do something and we have to be prepared?" When she saw that Servic remained unconvinced, she rolled her eyes and continued. "Okay. So my mother's sister, Penny Hedge? She was in the, the, um... twenty-seventh Hunger Games, I think. And there was a feast where everyone got gas masks because there was a huge gas cloud later. And if you didn't get a mask, you died."

"You think that'll happen? There's going to be a gas cloud?" Servic knew full well that that wasn't going to happen, but he loved irritating Millie on purpose- she just looked so darn cute when she was annoyed.

"No, Sparky," Millie replied, exasperated. "they tend to not use the exact same idea in a Hunger Games twice. My point is that we have to attend the feast."

"Good thing we're here, then."

And indeed they were. Both of them were just inside the maze's entrance, close to the golden horn at the center of the maze. The walls of the maze had moved overnight so they formed perfectly straight paths stretching directly from the outermost border of the maze to the cornucopia at its center.

_Probably 'cause they want everyone to be able to get to the feast easily. Once we're all in there, on the other hand, they'll probably do their best to make it as hard as possible._ This possibility was what made Servic most nervous, but Millie was right- they couldn't just _not_ come.

Servic could see a few others, hiding in the other passages, waiting. The ends of the passages were all blocked by force fields that would apparently fall when the cannon shot signaling the start of the feast sounded.

To his surprise, Millie slipped her hand into his and squeezed once. He looked back at her, surprised, and she smiled, leaned in, and kissed him on the cheek.

"It's alright, Sparky. We're going to be fine."

His heart stuttered and started going a mile a minute. "Y-yeah."

And they waited for the cannon, holding hands.

* * *

When Romulus rounded the corner and saw Ferro standing there, he knew that he was in trouble. And that he was probably going to die.

"Oh, hello, Nine," Ferro said cheerfully, turning around. His sword was out but hanging loosely from his right hand, point dragging on the ground. Romulus couldn't see his face all that clearly in the early morning, pre-dawn light, but what he saw of it was twisted in a triumphant smirk. "Nice day for a feast, isn't it?"

"I guess so..." Romulus reached for the rather pathetic knife he had in hid pocket, not that he expected it to do much good against the District One boy's _sword. _

"Glad you agree~" And then Ferro's sword was a blur, slicing through the air on a path directly towards Romulus' neck. The District Nine boy threw himself out of the way, fumbling his knife out and praying he wouldn't drop it. He landed heavily on his wounded shoulder and grunted at the sudden pain. _Dammit, Tinder, why'd you have to try and kill _me?

A cannon boomed- but he wasn't dead, at least not yet. It was the sound signaling that the feast had begun. As the sun slipped above the horizon, Romulus saw his chance.

_The force field's dropped. Maybe if I slip past him... I might be able to escape. _It was his only shot.

He charged at Ferro, hoping that that would be the last thing the grey haired boy would expect, but he was too slow. Ferro's sword slid in front of him, barring the entrance to the cornucopia. Romulus could see several Tributes already there, grabbing their bags or fighting or, in some cases, doing both.

"Going somewhere, Nine?" Ferro sneered. "Eh~ apparently not."

With his wounded shoulder, he had no chance at all of beating _anyone_ in a fight, let alone the strongest Career in the arena. Tinder's sword had sliced through Romulus' biceps, chipping his shoulder bone and almost severing the limb. Romulus could barely move it, never mind _fight_ with it. And it hurt like hell. Anya and Jack had let him sleep at their camp with them, but they'd all agreed that the best course of action would be to split up before it came time for the feast- with his shoulder like this, Romulus was nothing more than a liability.

_But if there's something at the feast I need... if there's any way I can survive this and get home... I have to try._

He struck wildly at Ferro with the knife, not expecting his blow to connect- and it didn't, but Ferro flinched away, leaving an opening just wide enough for Romulus to slip through, And then he was free, in the open, Ferro couldn't get him now...

Something silver flashed at the edge of his vision and he looked down. The tip of Ferro's sword blade was poking out of Romulus' chest, streaked with blood.

_What? Did he just...?_

He felt Ferro's breath hot against the back of his neck as the District One boy whispered into his ear from behind. "Any last words, Nine?"

Romulus felt his vision darkening, black spots obscuring the sight of the golden cornucopia ahead. It also _hurt_ to have a sword stuck through one's chest- not that he'd expected anything different- but even that was starting to fade. An oddly light feeling was spreading over his body, and his legs were suddenly not strong enough to support his weight. He fell to his knees, pulling the District One boy down with him.

"Ah... well, it's not as though someone like me could've won anyways," he replied, falling back against Ferro. He seriously _couldn't _stay upright right now, for some reason. Probably because of the sword sticking out of his chest. Just a hunch, there.

"Damn right~" Ferro yanked his sword out and pushed Romulus to the ground. The District Nine boy lay flat on his back, staring up at Ferro, who was crouching over him, knees on either side of his hips. Ferro's body was pressed close against his as the grey haired boy leaned down, face inches away from Romulus'.

The last thing that Romulus ever saw were Ferro's merciless blue eyes, staring down at him.

* * *

The instant the cannon staring the feast had gone off, Zana had shoved Fiore out to go get both of their bags. As they were both pink (for the girls, presumably, as the boys seemed to have the blue ones) and emblazoned with a giant number '6' and '7', they were rather hard to miss. Even _Fiore_ couldn't mess this one up.

"Ne, Zana, what District are you in?"

_Or... maybe she can. Damn._

Zana groaned and dashed out, hoping that no one decided to try and kill her. "Seven, you idiot."

"Ne, okay~" Fiore pocketed her own bag- both were fairly small- and tossed Zana's to her. A cannon boomed, making Zana whirl around, heart pounding. She saw Ferro kneeling over- _on top of_ really- the District Nine boy whose name escaped her at the moment. The kid looked... well, he looked _dead_. So the cannon was probably for him.

She glanced down at the bag, curiosity overcoming caution. Pausing like this in the open wasn't the _best_ idea, but she wanted to see what was in the bag. Loosening the drawstrings, she reached in and pulled out a small red bottle with a skull and crossbones on it. And as if that weren't clear enough, the word 'POISON' was written under that in all caps.

_Poison? Looks like only enough for one person. So who shall I kill with this?_

_...Fiore. That should've been obvious, right?_ she answered herself. She'd been looking for a way to kill Fiore for quite a long time- having an ally would be a weakness, later on in the Games- and this would just be _perfect. _A knife would be too messy, and she doubted that she would have the strength to strangle Fiore. She had briefly considered dropping a rock on her but couldn't figure out an effective way to do that. So poison would definitely work.

_But I can't let her find out that I have this._

In a flash of inspiration, she took the bottle and- once she'd made sure Fiore wasn't watching- stuffed it down the front of her shirt. Having such large breasts meant that there was a larger pocket-like space in her bra. And that was almost the last place anyone would think to look for hidden things.

She shoved the empty bag back into her pocket. _I'll tell her that whatever was in there fell out. She won't suspect that I'm lying- she _trusts_ me. And then all I have to do is pick my moment..._

* * *

Kyla was having trouble standing up straight, because the whole world seemed to spin every time she took a step. Her body also ached all over and her eyes were having trouble focusing on anything. But Andrew had wanted her to come because if he wasn't there and something bad happened back at the camp and he wouldn't be there to help.

"You stay here, okay?" Andrew whispered.

His voice sounded a bit echoey in her ears and there seemed to be five of him talking to her, but she nodded. The motion sent a stabbing pain through her head, making the vision problem even worse. And Andrew had told her that she had been even worse off yesterday, before some sponsor had sent medicine. At least now she could walk... kinda.

Andrew smiled. "Hold on, Kyla. I'll be right back." He turned and darted across the open ground, making his way to the cornucopia. Kyla watched him go, one hand against the glassy wall of the maze. That hand was the only thing keeping her upright. There was a soft ringing in her ears, she shivered uncontrollably every few seconds, and she could no longer move her right arm, the one that was wounded.

_I... I think I might be dying. I don't wanna die. I _can't_ die, I have to protect... protect..._

_Who do I have to protect? I forget..._

She could see Andrew grabbing the bags and starting to come back, but he was just _so far away_ and there were so many people between him and her and there was another boy with a bloody sword in his hand and wild blue eyes, the eyes of a killer- no, it was her father coming to hurt her again and she couldn't do anything and she was just _standing there..._

_Bentley. I have to protect Bentley._

* * *

"Aw, Ferro, don't attack _her_," Tinder muttered. "She looks like she's about to die anyways. Go fight someone that'll actually put up a fight, why don't you?"

He hadn't wanted to fight Ferro today- or, you know, at _all_, he'd be perfectly happy if that jerk just _dropped dead_ right _now- _but it seemed like this was a chance he couldn't miss. It wasn't as if he wanted to _protect_ the little girl that Ferro was headed towards, it was more... well, he didn't want to miss a chance to strike at Ferro while he was distracted.

He'd already gotten his bag, of course- blue, marked with a '12', and something tube-like inside (he hadn't opened it yet). Hopefully it was something useful.

A flash of bright red hair spotted out of the corner of his eye made him stop. Red hair... _Saffron?_

But no, of course not. Saffron was _dead_, and that brightly colored hair belonged to none other than Tinder's District partner, Rosa. He turned towards her, Kyla completely forgotten. She was at the cornucopia, one hand on her bag, the other on her knife. The blonde boy from District Eight, Fleece, was there too, with his bag already in his hand. His was identical to Tinder's, so presumably they held the same thing.

_I let her get away once. I was... weak. That will _not_ happen again._ Tinder turned and sprinted back to the cornucopia, sword out. Rosa turned, saw him coming, and dropped her bag and ran.

"Run all you want, Rosa, I'll catch you!" Tinder yelled, pivoting on one foot and pursuing her.

_...I sound like Ferro. Is that bad?_

Fleece was running along with Rosa, back to one of the exits into the maze. Tinder was a few steps behind both of them and gaining rapidly- they had no chance against someone who had been training for the Games almost all his life.

And then he was there, sword flashing out, and Rosa was turning with a terrified look on her face, and Tinder had time to savor that fear, knowing that _her_ made her that afraid...

_Is this how Ferro feels? When you know you can win, know you can kill them... so you can enjoy it. Enjoy their deaths..._

_It feels good to kill._

And his sword punched through Rosa's chest, parting her aorta on its way out her back and sending a spurt of blood up into the air. Somewhere, Fleece screamed, but Tinder couldn't hear him- there was only Rosa's wide eyes and the beating of her partially exposed heart, pumping even more blood out and Tinder's sword, ripping upwards through her chest and up to her neck as she crumpled to the ground, _so_ slowly, though, like she was falling through molasses...

Tinder wrenched his sword out of the dying girl and turned to face Fleece, who also seemed to be moving in slow motion. The District Eight boy's face was contorted with anger and grief as he yelled something that Tinder couldn't quite understand.

_Aw, I killed wikkle Fleece's girlfriend. Lookit that. Wikkle Fleece is crying like a _baby,_ isn't he?_

Fleece pushed past him and threw himself to the ground next to Rosa, clutching a hand that was slippery with blood in both of his. Tinder watched as he cried, and now he could hear him, the world was speeding up again- or maybe he was the one slowing down...

"I love you, Rosa, I love you, _please_ don't leave me..."

And then he was kissing her, and she was trying to kiss him back, smearing his face with her blood as he held her upper body in his lap, tears streaming down his cheeks and mingling with the blood on hers.

Boom!

Rosa fell back, limp, and Fleece screamed again, clutching her dead body to his chest and rocking back and forth, holding her. Tinder was about to stab him, too, and send him to join his sweetheart, when a soft rumble filled the air. He stepped back, glancing nervously around for the source of the noise. the walls of the maze were moving, destroying the perfectly straight paths that had been there before the feast. And the entrances to the clearing were being sealed off, too- Fleece and Rosa were now separated from him by a thick glass wall.

he took another step back and his foot caught on the edge of somebody's discarded bag. He turned and saw Ferro throw Andrew aside- apparently they'd been fighting the whole time Tinder had been dealing with Rosa. Kyla was still standing there, cowering against the wall next to one of the entrances that was rapidly being closed by a moving wall.

_Aw, crap, what do I do now?_

* * *

Andrew had managed to reach Ferro before the District One boy got to Kyla, but there wasn't really much he could do. Kyla was slumped against the wall, shivering, at it was fairly obvious that she wasn't going anywhere. So he threw himself between her and Ferro and tried to fend him off as best he could with an old, chipped knife.

"Ah, hello, Two~" Ferro said, grinning. The District One boy wasn't even breaking a sweat, which really annoyed Andrew.

_I mean, why does he get to look all epic while I'm struggling just to keep myself between him and Kyla? Damn you, Ferro, you jerk._

"Aw, you're protecting your _girlfriend_, aren't you? Do you _love_ her?" Ferro smirked suggestively. "Do you and her spend some _quality time_ in a sleeping bag together?"

_He has no idea. Unfeeling bastard. I'd _never_ do that, not when she's been hurt like she has. Never._

Andrew felt a sharp sting at the side of his neck and winced- Ferro's sword had slipped past him, nicking his skin. Had he been standing a few inches to the left, he would be dead right now.

"Eh, you're a pretty weak fighter, Two. I can see why you didn't want to join the Careers- you weren't _strong_ enough." Ferro paused. "I think I'll just kill you right now and then take my time with your girlfriend. Savor the experience, right?"

"Dammit, Ferro. You're not going to hurt you. I won't _let_ you," Andrew snarled.

"Oh yeah?" He braced the palm of his hand against the flat of his blade and shoved Andrew back, sending him flying backwards. The back of his foot caught on a rock and he fell, landing just within one of the entrances to the passageways leading out of the clearing.

Predictably enough, that was the exact moment that the walls started to move, steadily blocking off the cornucopia area.

_Oh no you _don't,_ you son of a bitch. _He scrambled to his feet and threw himself at the now rapidly closing opening, trying to get out- or in, depending on how you look at it- because Kyla was in there, and he had to protect her. He'd _promised_ he would.

But by now the gap between the walls was far too small for him to squeeze through. Andrew pounded futilely against the still-moving wall, watching helplessly as Ferro finally raised his sword to kill Kyla...

_Please help her. Someone. _Anyone_. _

Andrew caught sight of movement behind Ferro and dared to hope for a split second- but no, it was only Tinder. The District Twelve boy was the last person that he'd expect to help another Tribute, especially one as weak as Kyla.

Then Tinder raised his head and looked right into Andrew's eyes for a split second, then turned and ran at Ferro. He shoved Kyla into another one of the entrance pathways moments before it closed, then smoothly blocked Ferro's sword with his own.

_Tinder? He... he _saved_ her. Why...?_

Not that he really cared _why_, of course. The fact that Kyla was still alive was enough for him- now all he had to do was find her. And it didn't matter what irrational choices Tinder had made- he couldn't be all that bad if he was willing to risk himself to save someone else.

* * *

"Well, Twelve, looks like it's just the two of us, huh?" Ferro frowned. "Why'd you try to save her? She's going to die anyways. It would've probably been a _mercy_ to kill her. Put her out of her misery and all that."

"Yeah right. I hate how you're so desensitized to killing. It's still taking someone's life, Ferro."

"I didn't notice you being stuck in any moral quandaries when you slit darling Saffron's throat in her sleep. Or is killing a healthy girl while she's sleeping better than killing a sick girl that can barely stand up?" He shrugged. "It's you hypocritical people I can't stand. You talk about how life is precious and all that shit but when it comes down to a choice between you and them you'll _never_ help the other. Me, now, I'm honest. I like killing. And I don't give a damn about who I kill." He spread his hands, a smirk on his lips. "And what's wrong with that?"

Tinder didn't have an answer to that.

"So, Twelve, you going to attack me or what? I'm getting bored over here."

_I hate him. I really do. But I can't fight him. He'd win._

Tinder shook his head. Where the hell were these defeatist thoughts coming from? _Why would you just give up? He can't beat you. You're going to win these Games and this jerk is _nothing.

Tinder swung his sword up, meeting Ferro's at about waist height. The District One boy twisted his wrist and disengaged, lunging towards Tinder, who blocked it fairly easily.

_He's over confident. He'll make mistakes. All I have to do is watch for a weakness and exploit it._

Easier said than done. Overconfidence nonwithstanding, Ferro was _fast_. Tinder was having a hard time keeping up with his ever shifting stance and blade pattern. But every now and then Tinder saw a slight gap in the other's defenses- tiny, fleeting, but there.

_Now!_

He stepped forward, sword knocking Ferro's aside. Ferro jerked his head aside, Tinder's sword missing his neck by inches by scoring a long scratch across the District One boy's upper right cheek. His blue eyes widened as the blood started to drip down his face.

"I finally got you, One," Tinder spat, pulling back,

They stood like that for a few seconds, swords not quite touching. Ferro still looked fairly shocked by the fact that Tinder had actually _wounded_ him, and Tinder took it as an opportunity to catch his breath- if he attacked right now, before recovering, Ferro would still be faster than him.

The grey haired boy seemed to suddenly recover. "Aw, thanks, Twelve. having a sexy scar like this will make me even _more _attractive to the ladies."

_He would say something like that, wouldn't he?_ Tinder took another step back, this one taking him into one of the passageways leading out of the arena. As if it had been waiting for this, the wall slammed shut, cutting Ferro off from him. Now that Tinder looked around, actually, the only passages that had closed had been those with people in them- presumably there was some kind of motion-sensitive mechanism involved.

"Whatever, Twelve. I'll kill you later!" Ferro called, waving cheerfully. "Enjoy your life- while you have it!"

_Jerk._

* * *

**13) Romulus Pace- well, Tinder was going to die here, but everyone seems to like him (sorry, Cronomon). But Romulus was cool too! And then Ferro got to be epic and kill him.**

**12) Rosa Mariosta- aw, Fleece's girlfriend is dead. Sad. And with that there are fewer than half of the Tributes left!**

**And I think a kiss on the cheek is plenty of basis for a couple. Millie/Servic are official!**


	20. Chapter 22: Learning Curve

**Sorry for the long absence, I was at camp!**

* * *

**Day Six, Part Two**

Andrew really wanted to kill each and every one of the Gamemakers. Right now. Because instead of giving him something useful at the feast, like _medicine_ for _Kyla_, maybe, he'd gotten and odd tube-like device and in her bag? A _knife_. Like that was any use to her right now.

_Feasts are supposed to give you stuff you _need_. What the hell is this for?_ He turned the tube that he'd gotten over and over in his hands, scrutinizing it. It was about a foot in length, and two inches in diameter, with a button-like depression at one end and a tinny hole at the other. Near the button was a tiny red square with the number '6' on it. Other than that the entire thing was featureless- smooth slivery metal with no other visible markings.

He stuck it in his belt loop and crawled over to where Kyla lay, sleeping. He had finally found her after about an hour of wandering the maze- luckily he had a fairly good sense of direction. She'd been too weak to move, so he'd set up camp right there, within sight of the cornucopia at which the feast had taken place earlier that day.

Now she stirred and opened her eyes, smiling up at him. "Hello, Andrew."

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Better, actually."

"Really? That's great." Andrew could see that she did _look_ better- skin a healthier color, eyes clear, fever mostly gone. "Do you think you can sit up?"

"Yeah..." She struggled up, then grinned at her success. "Bet I can stand, too."

Andrew stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and he hoisted her up. She fell against him, then found her balance, giggling. "Not so hard, was that?" she remarked, letting go of Andrew's hands and stepping away, looking around. "So... how long have I been here?"

"If you mean altogether in the arena, this is the sixth day of the Games. If you mean in an alliance with me, I picked you up the day before yesterday. If you mean here in this specific location, approximately five hours."

"I see." Kyla glanced behind him at something, face scrunched up with curiosity. "Did you know that there's a big robotic dog behind you?"

"What?" Andrew turned, hand going to the knife in his belt. There was indeed a giant robotic dog-thing behind him, red eyes fixated on the two relatively defenseless Tributes in front of it. "Crap. Kyla, back up-" Then a terrible realization struck him.

_There's nowhere for her to go. We're trapped here._

The creature lept at him and he fell to the ground under it, the breath driven out of him. His knife flew out of his hand and clattered against the glass wall separating them from the cornucopia. He somehow managed to grab the robot's shoulders and forcibly keep it from tearing out his throat. It tore at his legs with its hind limbs, metal claws ripping through the thick material of his pants like they were made of paper, shredding the flesh beneath. Jaws snapping, it bore down on him, eyes fixated on his neck. Andrew's arms trembled with the effort of keeping the thing's teeth out of his jugular- he couldn't keep this up much longer.

_Isn't it funny how quickly things can go from semi-okay to completely fucked up?_

Kyla was screaming, throwing stones at the robot- well, at least she was trying to help, even if her rather pathetic tosses merely bounced off the metal carapace of the creature. Andrew couldn't feel his legs anymore, though judging from the amount of blood flying right now they were probably getting fairly torn up.

The robot twisted, trying to force his arms down, and he caught sight of a red circle, about two inches in diameter, on the back of its neck. Andrew frowned. _Now why does that look familiar...?_

Something clicked in his mind. "Kyla! The rod- it's a robot killer! Jab it on the circle, quick!"

To her credit, the twelve year old didn't hesitate at all to move towards the killer robot that was about three times her size. Kyla scooped up the rod from where it had fallen from Andrew's belt loop and darted in to attack. Unfortunately for her, the robot simply turned and batted her with a single metal paw, sending her crashing tot he ground, screaming in pain. The rod fell from her grasp and Andrew, still pinned under the robot, stretched out his arm, hand desperately scrabbling in the dirt for it.

_Oh, please... I have to get this. I have to._ His fingers touched the cold metal and he slammed the rod into the red circle, praying that his hunch was correct. Because if it wasn't, he was dead.

The effect was immediate and rather satisfying- the robot started to smoke and shiver, sparks flying from its joints. The light behind the red eyes dimmed as it shuddered, sputtered, and finally... died.

Andrew lay under its metal bulk for a few moments, panting. His legs were starting to hurt where the robot had savaged them, and it was a bit hard to breathe with a pile of dead metal on top of him. With one last effort, he pushed it away and rolled out from under it. Kyla lay a few yards away, curled up in a ball and clutching her stomach and whimpering.

"Kyla?" Ignoring his own bleeding legs, he pulled himself towards the little girl. "Kyla, where did you get hurt?"

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. He gently pulled her arms apart, examining the spot where the robot had struck her, on her left side.

"Looks like your ribs are broken on this side. Um... all of them. Don't move, okay?" He stuck the rod in his pocket and frowned. THere was really no way he could move her without risking further damage, and he didn't know how to even begin to set broken ribs. But Kyla was in even more danger with a crippling injury like this.

He quite honestly had no idea what to do. _Maybe if I just stay here with her and protect her... we'll be safe. Yeah. that might work._ Not the best of plans, but now that he had this handy little robot killer, it would be at least possible.

Speaking of which...

He pulled out the rod and turned it over. Just as he'd expected, the number in the little red box at the bottom was now '5'.

_Five more potential robots killed._

_...I guess this is kinda useful, after all._

* * *

Anya's first thought upon seeing the giant robot slink out of the forest was, _Is it just me or does that thing look different from the first ones we saw? More... evolved, maybe?_

Her second one, quite understandably, was: _Holy crap there's a fucking killer robot coming towards me. _

Jack saw it at about the same time that she did, eliminating the need to warn her ally of the impending danger. He grabbed the shiny new knife that he had gotten at the feast- Anya had gotten some kind of tube thing- and stood up from where he had been trying to start a fire. The robot, which looked more like a bear than the dog-like construction seen earlier, looked between the two of them as if trying to choose a target, then started lumbering after Anya.

Thankfully, it wasn't a very _fast_ robot- too bulky for real speed, probably, though those massive paws were big enough to crush either Jack or Anya. So she just turned and ran, hoping that the robot would eventually just give up and go attack someone else. She had assumed that her partner would do the same.

Which only proved that she really didn't know Jack very well.

"Yaah!"

_Did he just...?_ With a sinking feeling, Anya turned back to see the District Six boy charging the robot, knife held aloft and yelling at the top of his lungs.

_The idiot. Does he think he's being heroic? Or is he just stupid?_ Anya sighed and pulled out her own knife- the one that Jack had gotten that first day at the cornucopia. _Now I have to go help him._

She darted in, striking at the robot's underbelly as Jack feinted at its head, keeping its attention on him. The belly was a typical weak spot for most animals, which was why she had instinctively gone for it, but it didn't seem particularly vulnerable on this particular robot,. in fact, there was a metal exoskeleton covering its whole body, including its abdomen- something that the earlier generation of robots had definitely _not_ had.

And then, as if things weren't bad enough, her knife blade chose that moment to snap off.

_Fuck_. The robot turned to her, red eyes gleaming, and Anya closed her eyes and waited for her death. _Please let it be quick..._

Sssss... Thunk!

There was a hiss of air and a solid-sounding impact. Anya slowly, cautiously opened one eye and saw, to her great surprise, an arrow sticking out of the neck of the robot.

_Where did that come from?_

The mechanical bear fell to its knees, sparking and smoking like crazy. Anya turned to Jack, who looked as nonplussed as she felt. There was a rustle from overhead and they both looked up to see that brown-haired girl from District Three drop out of a tree, a bow in her hands. She was followed by her District partner, the pale twitchy boy that had stood up to Ferro during training.

"Hey, y'all!" the girl said, grinning, "I'm Millie and that's Sparky."

"Servic," the boy muttered, fidgeting.

"Um..." Jack looked very confused.

"You saved me," Anya blurted out. "Why'd you do that?"

Millie looked confused. "What kinda person would I be if I saw someone in danger and didn't try to help? That'd be just as bad as if I killed them myself." She paused. "Unless you _wanted_ to get crushed by a robotic bear. Maybe you did. Did you?"

"...no."

She nodded. "Okay, then."

"How did you manage to kill that thing?" Jack piped up.

"There, on its neck. See that little red circle?" She pointed to where her arrow was embedded in the robot's neck. "That's its weak spot. Sparky figured it out."

"D-did either of you get a tube thing at the feast?" Servic asked. He pulled off his pack and rummaged around in it, then emerged with a rod identical to the one Anya had received in his hand. "Looks like this?"

"Yeah, Anya has one," Jack said. "What's it do?"

"Kills robots. We think. But I didn't get this- we found it on the ground at the feast. Whoever was in District Eight dropped it."

Jack and Anya exchanged a glance. "That was Fleece," she said. "He was allied with us but we got... separated."

"Do you think he's dead?" Jack asked, looking worried.

"No, he didn't die. BUt the red-haired girl with him got killed, I think," Mille replied.

"Rosa."

There was a drawn out, awkward silence following that. Millie shuffled her feet, fiddled with her hair, then finally burst out, "Look, can we join your alliance?"

"Huh?"

"Please?"

Jack looked at Anya. "I guess I wouldn't mind..."

She glared at him. "Are you crazy? No. We don' need anyone else. We're fine with just the two of us."

"Anya..."

"I agreed to an alliance once before and look how that ended! Eve got killed and we lost half our supplies!"

"Millie just _saved your life_."

"So? Jack, there's only eleven of us left. I don't want to get into an alliance with people I might have to kill later." the look on her face softened. "it's bad enough having to worry about you, Jack."

"_Worry _about me? You don't have to, Anya. In fact, if you're so dead set against alliances, why don't you just leave me? You can be on your merry way, all alone. You won't have to 'worry' about me anymore," Jack spat, fists clenched. He stepped closer, face red with fury. "Just 'cause we're in the Hunger Games doesn't mean we can abandon basic human principles like _kindness_ and _loyalty_. But you don't seem to get that, do you?"

Eyes stinging, Anya blinked away the tears of frustration that threatened to spill over her cheeks. "That's unfair, Jack. I... I just don't want you to die."

"And I don't want you to die, either. But Millie and Servic- they don't deserve to die, right?" When she didn't respond, Jack touched her shoulder gently. "Please, Anya?"

Their eyes met and held for several tense moments. Then Anya looked away and sighed. "Fine. They can join us."

Jack smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Anya."

* * *

_She's dead. Rosa's dead. And I may as well be, too._

Fleece stumbled through the forest, tears blurring his vision. He was covered in numerous scrapes and bruises from where he had run into various trees, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the emotional distress he was in.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it all happen again. Tinder's sword ripping through Rosa's chest, the blood- blood _everywhere_, Fleece hadn't known that there was that much blood in the human body- and her face, a mask of shock and fear and dawning realization that she was dying.

_Rosa!_

Fleece fell to his knees in the dirt, fists clenched, nails digging into the palms of his hands. Hot tears trickled down his cheeks as he pounded the ground, sobbing softly.

_I loved her. She was the only one I ever loved... and now she's dead. I wish _I _was dead instead of her._

He supposed he had fallen in love with her the first time he had seen her, during training. There had just been something about that spunky, fiery redhead that made him want to get to know her, to be with her. And unlike any of the girls back in District Eight that he had seduced, it hadn't just been about sleeping with her. He had _felt_ something for her.

And now she was gone.

He moaned, clutching his head in his hands. _Rosa... I love you, Rosa. I'm sorry I let you die._

He didn't even have the energy to think about revenge on her murderer, Tinder- his grief at Rosa's death was all-consuming, leaving no room for such things as vengeance or hate. He didn't even care about surviving the Games anymore. In fact, he would have welcomed death, because in death he would be with _her_.

So all he could do was sit there and cry like a baby, curled up in the dirt at the base of a tree. Cry for Rosa and the hole in his heart where she had been, from which she had been torn by Tinder's sword.

_Rosa..._

* * *

As Tinder rounded the corner and came face-to-face with the cornucopia for the fifth time that afternoon, he finally admitted to himself that he was really and truly lost. He had been wandering around the maze ever since the moving walls had interrupted his fight with Ferro- which, looking back, had ben a good thing, since it meant that he got to survive a little bit longer.

But walking around in circles wasn't helping him much, either.

_Whatever. I don't think I've tried that opening over there._ He started to jog past the giant golden horn, cutting across the clearing towards another entrance to the maze. His foot knocked against something and he paused, glancing down. _hat was that?_

At his feet a hot pink bag with the number '7' on it lay as if discarded against the cornucopia. Whoever had dropped it had evidently left in a hurry, as the drawstring was half-undone and whatever was in it was poking out, gleaming dully in the sunlight.

Tinder bent down to pick it up. _District Seven... girl. That was that purple-eyed weirdo, right?_ He dumped the contents of the bag into his hand- it was a small red bottle with the word 'POISON' clearly written on the side.

_Poison, huh? Wonder what whats-her-name needed that for?_ He shrugged and pocketed it, deciding that one never knew when something like that could come in handy. that girl- Fiore? Fiona? Something like that- had probably needed it for something or other, but ti wasn't like that concerned Tinder.

_Now or another try at getting out of the god-forsaken maze..._

Tinder sighed and set off, choosing a path at random and hoping that it would lead out to the forest.

* * *

**No deaths, sorry. Next chapter, though, I promise!**

**Review please.**


	21. Chapter 23: Non Sequitur

**Day Six, Part Three**

* * *

"Don't just call my plan stupid without even letting me explain it thoroughly."

"I don't _need_ to hear all of it to know that it's illogical." Anya folded her arms. "I won't even consider it."

"But if you'd just _think_ about it..."

"Yeah, no. It wouldn't work."

"It can work. But we need to carry it out now. Or at least really soon," Jack said, exasperated. Millie, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground and listening to the go at it for the past ten minutes, giggled softly.

"You two argue a lot, don't you?"

"No we don't," Anya snapped.

"Yes we _do_," Jack shot back. "That's all you ever do is argue with me."

_Haha, they're so funny..._ Millie smiled and leaned against Sparky, tilting her head back to meet his eyes. "And what do you think of his plan?"

He shrugged. "A-actually... it kinda makes sense."

Jack's plan, which he had recently proposed to the group and which had started this argument, was to, as a group, attack one of the two remaining Careers- Ferro or Tinder. Millie had to admit, Jack had a point- with a larger group, they would have a better chance against a really good fighter. And it wasn't as if he wanted to attack some defenseless, innocent Tribute, since both Ferro and Tinder had killed their fair share of random Tributes. Which, in Millie's opinion, made them murderers.

Anya's concerns were equally valid, though. She had pointed out that even with a larger group, either of their potential targets could still kill or, at the very least, wound one or more of them. And it wasn't as if she or Jack or the District Three Tributes had any fighting experience or training whatsoever, so even if it was a four against one fight they wouldn't stand a chance.

But still, they couldn't just _sit_ here and wait for someone like the aforementioned Careers to come and attack _them_. At least this way they would have the element of surprise on their side.

"I think it's a good plan," Millie piped up. Anya glared at her as if to say, who asked you?

"Great. Just great. I suppose your boyfriend does too, since he goes along with everything you say?"

Sparky frowned, but nodded. "It isn't a bad idea. Really."

"Alright then." Jack looked satisfied at the three-to-one majority in his favor. "Shall we start planning, then?"

* * *

Ferro ran his fingers along the cut on his face that Tinder had given him back at the feast. It didn't hurt anymore, and it had stopped bleeding awhile ago, but it was definitely still there.

_Ah, Twelve, I guess you did get me. You truly are a worthy opponent. _He sighed. _Too bad I'm going to have to kill you for marring my perfect face._

A twig snapped behind him, followed by a low, ominous growl.

_Oh, that's never a good thing to hear..._ He turned, whipping his sword out. There was a robotic dog standing at the edge of the river, growling at him. The water was between them and it looked like it was too wide for the robot to jump, but Ferro still backed away, looking cautiously down the length of his sword into its red eyes.

"Good doggy... nice doggy... you just stay _right there_."

_Robots can't swim, right? It would short-circuit them or whatever. So I should be safe,_ Ferro thought, unwittingly following the same line of reasoning as Romulus had three days ago. He was understandably surprised when the robot hopped into the water and swam across quite calmly.

"Aw, c'mon- that's just not _fair_!"

Now that he thought about it, these robots looked _different_. They were sleeker, more compact than the first ones that Ferro had seen. And they were more armored, too- where the original ones had had exposed gears and wiring, this one was completely covered in smooth metal plates.

_They're adapting. That's... kinda creepy._

But he didn't have the time to pursue this particular train of thought, as there was now a giant, soaking wet robot rushing out of the water towards him. And getting crushed by it would be an _incredibly_ lame way to die.

_I ain't dying any time soon, bitch. I' m just too epic for that._ Instead of turning and running like any other solitary Tribute would have done in this situation, Ferro stood his ground, facing the robot with his usual slight smirk. It tilted its head slightly to one sided- probably trying to figure out what he was doing- but then continued charging, having apparently decided that it didn't matter if its prey was running away, it could still kill it.

Big mistake- for the robot.

The instant it got close enough, Ferro sheathed his sword and _vaulted_ over the robot's head, landing standing up on its kept on running for a few seconds, carried by its momentum, then skidded to a stop. Jaws snapping, it twisted its head around, trying to get at Ferro.

"Haha, can't reach me~" Ferro grabbed the robot's ears and yanked its head back, looking into its eyes. It started bucking, trying to throw him off, but he hung on easily, laughing. "Feisty little girl, aren't you?" He pulled his knife out and stabbed it into the base of the robot's neck, grin widening as sparks flew out. He jumped clear just as the metal dog crashed to the ground, twisting and smoking.

_I am EPIC!_ He thew back his head and laughed, the slightly maniacal sound echoing across the arena.

* * *

Zana wasn't exactly the most patient person in the world. In fact, if asked to describer her, most of her family and relatively close acquaintances would have called her anything but. So it was hardly surprising that she decided to use the poison she'd gotten at the feast mere hours after receiving it, almost as soon as she and Fiore stumbled out of the maze and into the forest.

Night was falling, the sky steadily darkening. Fiore was trying to start a fire and failing rather miserably at it. Not that it seemed to bother her or anything- the violet-eyed girl was humming cheerfully to herself, half of her hair up in the hair ribbon she hadn't given to Zana. The other half kept on falling into her face; Zana wondered why she didn't just put it all up in one ribbon, but Fiore was just weird like that.

Really, in the end, it was ridiculously easy for Zana to slip the poison into Fiore's drink. It wasn't as if the District Seven girl was very _aware_ of the world around her, after all. It was simply a matter of picking her moment and dumping it in. But something held her back... or at least made her hesitate.

_Do I really want to do this?_

Most of her immediately answered this with a vehement yes. Killing Fiore _made sense_, especially at this point in the Hunger Games- only eleven Tributes left, including herself. Fiore was, out of all of them, the least likely to win (well, except that useless twelve-year-old from District Nine). And Zana's chances of surviving were greatly increased if Fiore was out of the picture. Granted, she still only had a very _small_ chance of winning against people like _Tinder_, but whatever. She'd take any advantage she could get.

On the other hand, Zana had gotten close to Fiore. It was a mistake for her to do so, she knew _that_, but she just couldn't help it. The idiotic girl got on her nerves to no end, but there was something vaguely adorable about her spaciness.

_No. You can't let that stop you. Friendship and love... there's no room for that here in the Games._

She glanced over at Fiore. The brown-haired girl's back was to her- she seemed to be talking to a squirrel or something.

_Now or never, Zana. You'd better act fast._

in one fluid motion she uncorked the bottle and upended it into Fiore's water bottle, which was sitting on a rock nearby with its lid off- awfully convenient location, really, but Zana didn't heed that at the time. She hastily stuffed the now empty bottle back into her pocket as Fiore turned around, a smile on her face.

"Ne, Zana, I am hungry. Make me food!"

"No." Zana peered intently at her ally, hoping that her nervousness wasn't showing. Her voice seemed a little too loud in her ears, and her hand clenched over the bottle as Fiore sat down.

_Does she know?_

Fiore noticed her staring and tilted her head. "Ne, is something wrong?"

"N-no..." Zana hurriedly pulled an apple out of her pack and bit into it. "Just hungry," she mumbled around the mouthful of fruit.

"Ne, me too~" Her hand reached for the water bottle, but she didn't pick it up yet.

_Drink it... oh, please just drink it before I do something stupid like warn you..._ Zana had to restrain herself from jumping up and stopping Fiore- damn that stupid part of her that actually _cared_.

Fiore suddenly threw back her head and chugged down the entire water bottle. Zana's eyes widened.

"Whoa! Can I drink or can I drink!" Fiore cried, grinning and throwing the bottle aside. She caught Zana's bemused gaze and smiled softly. "Ne, did you think I would not notice?"

"Huh?"

"Ehehe~ you're rather cute. I meant the poison, of course."

"Wh-what poison?" _Crap. She knows. But it doesn't matter- she's dead either way. She drank it._

_Wait... if she knew... then why...?_

"I got some too, ne? Why dod you think I dropped my bag? I did not want to kill you, ne?" She shrugged. "But I knew that you would not hesitate to do so."

"So you... you just let me kill you?" Zana saw no point in pretending when Fiore obviously already knew, so so dropped the pretense and stared incredulously at her. "Why?"

Fiore wobbled slightly. "Because I love you Zana," she said simply. She stumbled forwards, falling to her knees, violet eyes unfocusing for a moment. The poison was obviously already affecting her. "I wouldn't kill you. I couldn't."

"Well, sucks for you," Zana spat, pulling away. A feeling of sick, heavy dread was rising in her- _I killed her, I killed her, she's gonna die and it's _my _fault_- and she masked it with disdain and hatred. "I never really loved you. It was all fake. I planned to kill you all along."

"I know."

"Y-you did?" Zana blinked, deflating slightly. "I-I..."

"You are not as subtle as you think you are, ne. But that's okay... I still love you. I have since I first met you." Fiore smiled, then fell over. She looked up at Zana from the ground. "Nothing you ever did changed that."

Zana turned to leave, but Fiore grabbed her ankle. The District Seven girl's grip was weak, and Zana could have shaken it off and continued on her way out of there, but something made her stop.

"Stay... with me. Please."

"Fiore..." Zana knelt next to her and took her head in her lap. "I-" She broke off, unsure of what she wanted to say. Should she apologize? She wasn't even sure she was sorry for this.

"Ssh." Fiore reached up and touched Zana's lips with a trembling hand. "It's okay."

"You could've killed me. You didn't- you didn't have to die!"

"I didn't want you to die." Fiore stopped and flinched, biting her lip. Her skin was deathly pale and slightly clammy- Zana hadn't expected the poison to work so quickly.

"Fiore?"

"I... love you, Zana." Her eyes rolled up in her head and the cannon boomed.

"Fiore!" Zana grabbed the dead girl's shoulders and shook her. "No..."

_She's dead. I killed her. I killed a human being._ The thought struck her like a bolt of lightning, making her gasp and jerk away from the body. Fiore's head slid off her lap and thudded against the ground. She stood up and backed away, horrified and faintly nauseated. _I'm a murderer. It doesn't matter that I'm in the Games. No one should die. No one deserves that._

She looked down at the limp body in front of her. Fiore looked so small, so young lying there. She could have been asleep- but she wasn't, she was dead.

Zana turned away and ran before the hovercraft came, before she had to watch the only friend she had ever really wanted disappear forever.

* * *

**11) Fiore Arcase- So, yeah, Zana finally killed her. Sorry to those of you who liked her... personally I found her a great character.**

**Review please.**


	22. Chapter 24: Errand of Mercy

**Day Seven, Part One**

* * *

Fleece's eyes flickered open and he sat up, groaning and rubbing his eyes. He looked around, sleep-fogged brain still processing the situation- and then it hit him. Again.

_Rosa's dead._

He had barely known her for two weeks, yet he felt her absence now even more sharply than he had any of the people he had left behind in District Eight. And last night, when that horrible evening ritual the Capitol put them through had started, and Fleece had seen Rosa's face in the sky- it had just driven it home to him, that he would never again hold her, never see her. All night long he had tossed and turned, haunted by dreams of her, fading recollections punctuated by long periods of wakefulness in which he sat and cried in the darkness, all alone.

Now it was morning. Fleece had been in the arena for six full days- almost a week. This was the morning of his seventh day.

Standing up, he surveyed his surroundings. At some point of his grief-fueled wanderings he had evidently found his way out of the maze, since he was now facing one of the exits from said structure. Behind was the forest, an unfamiliar stretch of it- he had no idea where he was.

He patted his pockets, trying to find whatever it was that he'd gotten at the feast. Nothing. He'd probably dropped it at some point yesterday or last night, when he was mindlessly wandering the arena, crying like a baby. He dimly remembered the contents of his bag being tube-shaped, but that was all.

The soft, muffled sound of footsteps reached his ears and he froze. Turning to the source of the noise, he saw a figure step out of the maze, backlit by the rising sun so Fleece couldn't make out who it was. Then a terribly familiar voice reached his ears and he tensed, anger flooding him.

"Oh, hello, Eight. I didn't get to finish up with you yesterday, did I?"

"Tinder." The word was laced with hatred. Fleece didn't remember taking out his knife but it was in his hands now, pointed at the District Twelve boy.

"Aw, you're upset. Is it because I killed that red-haired brat? Did you love her? Pity," Tinder said, smiling slightly and stepping forward, sword out. "Do you want to go join her, then?"

Fleece growled and swung at Tinder, knife missing by at least a foot. Fury made his vision go red, heartbeat thudding in his ears as he tried again and again, swinging his weapon wildly in an attempt to kill the boy who had taken from him the only girl he had ever loved.

Something fell from Tinder's pocket, glinting as it bounced against the mossy ground, but Fleece paid no heed. All he cared about was making Tinder pay for what he had done.

There was a loud snap from behind him, in the forest, and both boys stopped. Slowly, fear rising in him, Fleece turned, Predictably enough, since these things seemed to happen at points like this, there was a robot there. It was a bit like a giant metal snake, about two meters long and as thick as Fleece's torso.

It turned towards Tinder, staring at him with those sinister red eyes. The District Twelve boy turned and ran, obviously hoping that the robot would then turn on Fleece and kill him. Which didn't quite work out, as the robot immediately set off in pursuit of the fleeing boy.

_Serves him right. I hope it crushes him, that murderous bastard._ The brief surge of rage subsided, leaving Fleece drained. He slowly sat down, knife clattering from his hand, landing against a rock. He felt something hard under his foot and bent down to look, movements slowed by his exhaustion. _What's this?_

A red bottle, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, with a skull and crossbones in white on the side. Fleece turned it over and the word on it jumped out at him, imprinted itself on his mind, and opened the door for a single, hopeful thought.

Poison.

Tinder's words, spoken carelessly and mockingly, came back to him: _"Do you want to go join her, then?"_

_Yes. I want to be with Rosa again. I want to see her again._ He regarded the tiny bottle in his hand, marveling that the margin between life and death could be so slim. one swallow would be enough to erase him from existence.

Fleece barely even hesitated before popping off the cork and pouring it down his throat. There was a surprisingly small amount of liquid in the bottle. A bitter taste spread across his throat, making him screw up his face and wince. But he forced himself to swallow it, feeling it burn down the back of his throat.

He threw the bottle aside, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The glass shattered against a nearby rock, covering the grass with tiny red fragments. Heart pounding as the enormity of what he had done sank in- _oh my God I just killed myself_- he waited for the poison to take effect.

Just as he was starting to think that he'd made a mistake, that there wasn't _really_ anything lethal in the bottle, a sudden, painful cramp hit his stomach. He doubled over, gasping. It felt like he was being torn apart from the inside. Chills ran up and down his body and he found himself writhing uncontrollably on the ground, pain forcing all thoughts from his mind except for one.

_I'll be with you soon, Rosa._

Then the pain stopped and he lay flat on his back, staring up through the tree limbs overhead to the sky beyond. A warm lightness was spreading over his body, and he felt like he was floating up into the blue expanse above, blue- like Rosa's eyes...

Fleece never heard the cannon that signaled the end of his life.

* * *

"I killed someone I loved and I feel perfectly fine about it," Zana muttered to the empty air, crossing her arms. Then she sighed and shook her head.

_Ah, what the hell. I can't even convince myself, can I?_

The truth was, she did miss Fiore. A little bit, Sure, not having to listen to her bluntly flirtatious comments (and her random "ne"- what the fuck was that?) was rather nice, but the morning seemed a little dimmer without the purple-eyed girl's bright smile. And right now it was just too _quiet_- Zana kept on looking over her shoulder, paranoid that someone or something was sneaking up on her.

_It's lonely here. And creepy. Maybe I shouldn't have killed- no. _She shook her head to dispel this thought. _No. There's no point in dwelling on that. You did the right thing._

A cannon shot rumbled across the arena and she looked up, surprised. It was barely the middle of the day- someone had died already? She wondered who it was- not that she really remembered who was left. She was fairly sure that there were two Careers still alive and kicking, Ferro and Tinder, and that the shy little girl from Nine was, too. Other than that, she had no idea. She didn't even know if her District partner, Jack, was still alive.

_I hope he is. His brother seemed pretty upset that he was leaving. That's good. I bet nether of my brothers- or my dad, for that matter- would give a damn if I died._

Zana sighed and looked up at the sun, trying to figure out what time it was. The best she could do was determine that it was probably noon-ish. Which meant lunchtime. Except for the fact that she had run out of food that very morning.

_I really hate my life right now. _She reached into her pocket and felt the satin edge of the purple hair ribbon that Fiore had given her the day before yesterday- the last tangible evidence she had that the District Seven girl had even existed. Zana had been fiddling with it randomly all morning, unable to stop thinking about it. And, by extension, unable to stop thinking about Fiore.

_I _do_ miss her. I really do._

* * *

Andrew had hoped that a night of rest would help Kyla, but it looked like those hopes had been dashed. The District Nine girl wasn't getting any better- in fact, if anything, she looked worse.

_Face it. She's been dying ever since you met her. everything you've been doing has only delayed the inevitable_, the pessimistic side of him whispered. He had known that all along, really, but hadn't wanted to admit the reality of the situation.

Kyla's entire right side had ben bashed in by the robot yesterday, breaking every single rib on that side. Some of the shattered bones were poking through her skin, the puncture wounds weeping blood in red trickles down the girl's torso. Andrew had heard her moaning in pain the whole night, every sound making him cringe, guilt leaving him just as sleepless as the wounded girl.

_She was trying to help me. It's my fault she got hurt._ He buried his face in his hands, taking deep, shuddering breaths as he struggled to retain his composure. He felt even worse because his own wounds, while they had bled a lot, were nowhere near as major as Kyla's. _It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I came to the Games because I wanted to _win_. I didn't know that this could happen. It never registered that the people I was here with could deserve to win just as much- or more- than me._

Kyla was dying, but even now she wasn't thinking of herself. For her, it was always about her little brother. She had more of a reason to want to win the Games than Andrew, who was in it for the glory of victory, yet she was the one dying, not him.

"Andrew..."

"Yeah?" He scooted over to where Kyla lay. She looked at him with slightly unfocused eyes.

"It hurts."

"I know, Kyla. I'm sorry." he touched her forehead gently, smoothing her sweaty hair back out of her face. There was a drawn-out pause, and then Kyla suddenly grabbed his hand.

"I don't want it to hurt anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm tired of being in pain all the time. I don't want to go home if it means I'll just get hurt again. I just want it to _end_."

It took a few seconds for the implications of this statement to sink in. "But Kyla... don't you have to win? Don't you have to protect Bentley?"

"He'll be fine now," Kyla whispered.

"How do you arrive at that conclusion?" Andrew asked, genuinely confused.

She smiled. "I never told anyone about my dad... until you. And I did that on national television. Do you really think that anyone who saw that would let him hurt Bentley? I don't matter anymore. He's safe now. That's all I ever cared about."

He had to admit that she had a point. But he wasn't about to let her go without an argument. "You _do_ still matter, Kyla. You matter to _me_."

Kyla shook her head, eyes filling with tears. "It hurts so bad, Andrew. End it. Please." She took a deep, rattling breath, and Andrew realized that even if he didn't do anything, she was doomed- one of her broken ribs must have pierced her lungs, which were now filling with fluid. No amount of medicine from a sympathetic Capitol citizen could help her now. He took her in his arms, suddenly reminded of how he had held another dying girl only three days earlier.

_She'll die either way. It's either a long, protracted, painful death or... maybe a more merciful one. Certainly a quicker one. _Her arguments were convincing, but his real motivation for agreeing was rather selfish- seeing her in pain made him uncomfortable.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. Kyla's face filled with relief.

"Yes. Thank you, Andrew- for everything."

Part of him couldn't believe that he was actually agreeing to do this. The prospect of killing someone he had jeopardized his chances of winning for just made no logical _sense_, and damn what she wanted- or thought she wanted. And any killing, in the end, was wrong, up to and including euthanasia... right?

Over the protests of his more ethical side, Andrew reached into his pack and pulled out the now-empty plastic wrapper that had held his food. He tenderly pressed it over Kyla's mouth an nose, sealing off her airways, all while struggling to keep the tears in his eyes from falling.

"It's going to be okay, Kyla. It'll stop hurting soon. I promise." He broke off, voice choked by a sob threatening to burst out. The girl's body spasmed slightly, but her face was peaceful as he suffocated her.

There was no visible change, but Andrew felt it when the life finally left Kyla. He didn't need the echoing rumble of the cannon to confirm what he already knew. Her eyes were still open, but they no longer saw. The hand in Andrew's grasp was still warm, but that would soon fade. Life had turned to death in his arms.

He dropped the plastic film and finally let the tears fall. "I'm so sorry, Kyla."

* * *

Millie got the feeling that Anya didn't like her much. And if there was one thing that the District Three girl hated most, it was being disliked for no apparent reason. And so, with her trademark optimism (some might call it stupidity, but whatever) she sought the older girl out.

"Good morning, Anya!"

"...it's afternoon."

_Not the most promising of beginnings..._ Millie shook off this discouraging (and quite rude) response and smiled brightly at Anya. "Okay. Good, um, afternoon! What's up?"

The District Eleven girl gave her a scathing glance. "Why are you talking to me?"

"Uh... do you not want me to? I can just, um... go away then." Millie looked away, wondering why this girl hated her so much. What had she ever done to her? But it wasn't as if he had anyone else to talk to right now- Jack and Sparky were off preparing for a possible attack on a Career.

"No, that's fine. I guess since you're in an alliance with me I have to talk to you, huh?" Anya rolled her eyes. "So why'd you come over here?"

"Why are you so against alliances?"

"What's the point? It's illogical to get attached to someone you'll have to kill later."

Millie frowned. "But then... you don't care about who you kill."

"You have to kill to survive, here."

"You're just like the Careers, aren't you." Millie was disappointed- she had thought Anya was a much better person than this.

Anya smirked. "Funnily enough, that's kinda how Jack got me to agree to an alliance the first time we tried one. 'The Careers have alliances, the Careers win, so we should have alliances'. Or something like that. And now you're saying that being like the Careers is wrong."

"If it means only caring about yourself, then yeah. It is wrong." Millie knew that people called her too trusting, too innocent, even just plain _stupid_, but there were just some things she couldn't change about herself. Having a selfless world-view was one of those things.

"So you don't care about yourself?" Anya replied challengingly. "You wouldn't mind dying?"

"Of _course_ I'd mind dying! But... but I'd mind someone else dying even more, if that makes sense."

"I don't even know how you got this far in the Games, Millie. You're pathetic."

Millie crossed her arms. "That's not a very nice thing to say."

"It's just the truth."

The two girls remained like that for a few more seconds, Anya sitting on a log, nonchalantly sharpening her knife, and Millie glaring down at her. The latter finally broke the tense silence.

"Why do you hate me so much, Anya?"

"I don't. And that's the problem- how do I kill people I don't hate?"

"..."

Anya blew on the edge of her knife and set it down, then leaned back and met Millie's green eyes. "You just don't understand me, do you? You have no idea how to relate to me."

Unable to deny this statement, Millie shrugged. "Maybe we just need to talk more. Get to know each other."

"That's the _exact opposite_ of what you're supposed to be doing in the Hunger Games. I should've killed you the moment I saw you."

"Even though I saved your life?"

"Yes."

"So why didn't you?"

Anya met her gaze, naked emotion in her eyes for the first time since Millie had met her. "How could I go home to my sisters if I killed an innocent?"

_Maybe we aren't so different, after all_. She sat down next to the District Eleven girl- standing up and talking down to her was awkward- and put her arm around her shoulder. "Wanna know how you can get closer to winning without killing an 'innocent'?"

"Help you with Jack's idiotic plan. Was that the whole point of coming over to talk to me?" Anya shrugged Millie's arm off her shoulder, but nodded. "Tell me more about his idea of his. Maybe there's some sense in it."

"We'll attack tomorrow. Sparky's found a camp that we think is Ferro's. But there's still a ton of stuff we have to do first..."

* * *

**10) Fleece Winnower: served no further useful purpose. So I killed him. Was that harsh? Eh, whatever.**

**9) Kyla Sprit: Really sweet character, but all those injuries were adding up. And now she's dead.**

**Review please.**


	23. Chapter 25: Necessary Evil

**Day Eight Part One**

* * *

It was still dark in the arena, though the sky to the east showed signs of light. The sun wouldn't be up for awhile, though, and the forest was still steeped in shadow. It was the perfect time to strike.

_All I want is food. Surely that's not too much to ask? I'm really hungry..._ Still, Zana was having a hard time convincing herself that sneaking into someone else's campsite and taking their food was actually a good idea. In the end, her grumbling stomach convinced her that yes, as risky as it was, it would be worth it to actually have something to eat.

Heart pounding, she crept out of the forest, placing each foot with utmost care in an attempt to make as little noise as possible. She counted four sleeping bags- quite a large alliance for this late in the Games, really. But presumably that meant that there would be more supplies for her to raid.

In the grey pre-dawn light it was hard to make out who was in the sleeping bags, but Zana did see one familiar face- Jack, her District partner.

_Good. He's still alive._ She edged past him as quietly as possible, then paused once she reached the next sleeper. It was that girl from District Eleven that had volunteered for her sister. Since she didn't want to risk waking anyone up by moving around too much, Zana decided that she might as well see what she could take this girl's pack.

Aware of the fact that she had no way of defending herself, Zana withdrew her hand from her pocket, where she had been playing with Fiore's ribbon, and carefully unzipped the pack. The first thing she saw was half of a loaf of brown bread. Unable to resist, she tore off a piece and stuffed it into her mouth to still the rumbling of her stomach.

That mouthful of food was the death of her.

Before Zana could reach into the pack for more, the girl stirred, rolled over, and opened her eyes. Catching sight of the District Seven girl hunched over her pack, she launched herself out of her sleeping bag and onto Zana, hands encircling her throat before she could react.

Unable to draw in enough breath to cry out, Zana thrashed under the District Eleven girl, fingers scrabbling at the hands slowly, inexorably tightening around her windpipe. Colored spots began to swim across her vision and she felt something soft against her left hand- the hair ribbon.

As the first rays of the rising sun slid over the horizon, illuminating the merciless face of her killer, Zana glanced down at the purple ribbon in her hand, oxygen-starved brain starting to shut down.

The last thing she ever saw was Fiore's hair ribbon, falling from her hand and fluttering away as the world dissolved into darkness.

* * *

Boom!

"Wha-?" Anya backed away, standing up and staring down in shock at the blonde girl lying dead in front of her. Jack, awakened by the cannon, sat up, rubbing his eyes. His gaze fell on the dead body in front of Anya and his eyes widened.

"Anya? What the hell just happened?"

"I- she just- I guess-" Anya stuttered, looking helplessly at her hands. "I... i saw her going through my pack and it was dark and I freaked out and- and I guess I kinda overreacted."

"_Overreacted_? Anya, she's dead!"

"What did you expect me to do? Just sit there and let her take our stuff? Jack, we need those supplies. We don't even know her."

"She was my District partner. her name was Zana. Did you even know that?"

Shaken by this information, it took Anya a few seconds to continue. "Well, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? That's all? You _killed_ someone! An innocent! Did you say that you'd never do that?"

"He's right. You shouldn't have reacted like that," Millie said. She and Servic had evidently woken up at some point and figured out what was going on.

"Who the hell asked you, bitch?" Anya spat. "Of course _you'd_ say that, you goody-goody little idiot."

"Don't insult her," Servic snapped, glaring at Anya.

"Why are you all ganging up on me? She was trying to steal from us. I _protected_ our supplies! I protected _us_!

Who knows what she would've done if I hadn't woken up? She could've killed us all- did you even consider that?"

"But _you_ didn't have to kill her. I'm sure she was absolutely terrified- all you probably had to do was hit her and she'd have run away."

_Have they all gone crazy?_ Anya felt bad that she'd killed the girl, but she'd done it in self-defense. Why were they all acting like she'd done something horrific and murderous?

The conversation, which was rapidly devolving into a shouting match, was interrupted by the arrival of the silver Capitol hovercraft descending to recover Zana's dead body. Anya watched it lift off, flying into the cloudless blue sky above until it was only a speck. When she looked back down, Jack had his arms crossed and was looking at her with an expression of complete disappointment on his face. And a bit of fear, too- was he afraid of her just because she'd killed someone? Did he think she would kill him, too? For some reason, that hurt more than him yelling at her had.

"I didn't know you cared about her so much," she said dryly before he started scolding her again.

"I barely knew her. But that's besides the point. You shouldn't have killed her because it's wrong to kill."

_And that's what makes us so different, isn't it?_ "Fine. I'll just leave now, then." She grabbed her pack and started stuffing her sleeping bag into it.

"What?"

"It's obvious that you're not going to let this go. So rather than face your disapproval, I'm leaving. It's obvious that we don't have compatible moral codes, anyways. You seem to think that you can survive the Games without spilling some innocent blood, and that's just... illogical. Your very existence at this point is the result of many, many deaths. I, on the other hand, accept that desperate times call for desperate measures. If that means killing someone, so be it." She swung her bag over her shoulder. "Good luck trying to attack Ferro. I hope you die."

And with that, she was gone.

* * *

Nothing excited Ferro more than a hunt. Even the actual killing paled in comparison to the sensation of stalking someone, watching their every move, knowing all- while the one he hunted, his prey, had no idea that he was following them.

His current target, who he was shadowing through the forest, was that District Two boy that hadn't wanted to join the Careers. The one he had almost killed at the feast- Andrew, that was his name. The little girl he's been protecting was nowhere to be found, though now that Ferro thought about it, her face had been in the sky last night. He wondered how she'd died- perhaps Andrew had killed her.

_Now, wouldn't that be an interesting twist?_ he mused.

Andrew seemed to be heading for the river. He wasn't alert at all- head down, just kind of plodding along. Careless of him, really. Ferro swung his knife, chopping a falling leaf in half- just to make sure his blade was still sharp.

Just as he was about to jump out of the shadows and attack the boy, there was a snap behind him., followed by another. Curious, Ferro turned and saw a figure dart behind a tree some twenty yards to his left.

_Now, who could that be...?_ Abandoning his pursuit of Andrew- he could always kill the District Two boy later- he set off in pursuit of this mysterious figure, knife still out.`

He had no idea that he was walking into a trap.

* * *

Sweat dripped into Servic's eyes as he bent over the exposed wires in front of him, trying to concentrate. The sun was almost at its zenith already, and he knew that Jack was off trying to lure Ferro into following him- but he had a job to do right now, and the whole plan depended on it.

He and Millie were at the center of the maze, next to the cornucopia. They had overturned the golden horn (which had taken several minutes, as neither of them were all that strong), revealing a small grey control box- just like Servic had predicted. A few experimental crosswirings had given him control of the moving walls of the maze, as well as the element most important to Jack's plan- the electrical barrier at the top of the glass walls.

"You almost done, Sparky?"

He grunted an affirmative, unable to speak around the crude metal tools in his mouth.

"I hope this plan works. Do you think it'll work without Anya? We were gonna have her help Jack get Ferro into the maze, right? I wonder why she left. I mean, I know she told us why, but it didn't really make sense. Like, why does she think she has to kill people to win?"

"Millie, please. I'm trying to concentrate."

"Sorry." After a short pause, she frowned. "Do you think she'll come back?"

"Millie!" Servic sat up, exasperated. "I love you, but can you please _shut up_ for five minutes?"

She tilted her head to one side, a small smile spreading across her face. "You just said you loved me. That's the first time you ever said that to me. You're so sweet, Sparky!

"Yeah. Now let me work."

"Okay..."

He fiddled with a few more wires, then looked back at her, eyebrow raised. "Come to think of it... don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Right!" Millie scooped up her bow and stood up. "You'll have to give me a boost."

"One second." Servic reached down and clipped a wire, then held his breath hopefully. This technology was a bit unfamiliar, though it was basically District Three stuff- which he was plenty used to working with, having grown up in a science lab. There were a few Capitol additions that made him a bit uncertain, though he was fairly sure that cutting that wire should...

"You did it, Sparky!"

He looked up. The electrical barrier at the top of the section of wall nearest to them had gone out, leaving the top of the wall clear. It looked like he was getting the hang of this technology.

Millie looped the bowstring over her shoulder, then looked expectantly at Servic. "Help me up, will ya?"

Servic stood and braced his back against the wall, offering her his cupped hands. She stepped into them and he hoisted her up, wincing as her booted feet dug into his shoulder. She finally managed to wiggle up onto the walltop.

"All clear, Sparky. Oh- I see Jack. Looks like he got Ferro to follow him. They're coming!"

"Start moving. I'll keep the wall clear in front of you." He paused, then added, "Good luck.

She blew him a kiss and set off.

Servic sighed. _I really hope she doesn't die._ He knelt back down next to the control box, searching for the next wire to clip. Keeping Millie's path electricity free was his only task at the moment. Nothing else mattered.

* * *

Millie's hands were tensed around her bow as she stopped and experimentally took aim. Good- the sun wasn't in her eyes. She could see Jack from up here, running through the maze, with Ferro in pursuit. The District one boy was moving a bit slower that she had expected- maybe he suspected a trap.

Her job was fairly simple- wait until Jack got Ferro close enough, then shoot. She knew her aim was good enough to do so, but the prospect of actually killing someone was a bit scary. And after what had happened that morning...

She could see why Anya had killed Zana- she'd felt threatened. But if Millie had been in the same situation, there was no way that her first reaction would've been to _strangle_ the intruder. What Anya had said the day before was actually true- she had no idea how to relate to the District Eleven girl.

And Jack's reaction had been completely reasonable, if slightly hypocritical- saying that killing was wrong while planing an attack on Ferro? Millie had to assume that the ban on killing only extended to those who didn't deserve to die. Though once one began deciding things like that... well, it could lead down a very bad path.

Would killing Ferro make her a murderer? Or would it be revenge for all the innocents he had killed?

The sound of footsteps tore her form her inner struggles. Jack darted past her- under her, actually- then skidded to a halt. "Now, Millie!"

Ferro was rounding the corner, blue eyes fixated on Jack. At that outburst he looked up- straight at the bow pointed at him.

Millie nocked and released the arrow in one smooth motion, watching it speed towards the District One boy. She knew it was going to hit him, knew she had just killed him...

And then, faster than she would've thought possible, Ferro's knife slashed through the air, deflecting her arrow.

_What the hell?_ Millie stared at him in disbelief and horror. Had he just- no. That wasn't possible... was it?

Then Ferro looked up and met her eyes, a smirk on his lips. "Nice try, Three. Now this is the part where I kill you."

* * *

**Ooh, dramatic ending! And a cliffhanger! I hate those SO much! But too bad~**

**8) Zana Listal- sorry if her death seemed super random... and the ribbon bit at the end was a departure from her originally planned death scene, but I never actually brought up her token, did I?**


	24. Chapter 26: By Inferno's Light

**Can I just say that this is my favorite chapter title so far? Not that y'all probably care.**

**Day Eight Part Two**

* * *

Servic sat back, frowning at the grey box in front of him. Inside, among the tangled mess of wires that controlled the arena, something was overheating. Thin tendrils of smoke rose, the harsh smell of melting plastic and metal making him wrinkle his nose. _That can't be good..._

He had no idea what had gone wrong. One second he had been easily disabling the electrical barrier one wire at a time, making a path for Millie so she could shoot Ferro, and the next something had happened. And he had no idea what.

Speaking of Ferro... shouldn't she have killed him by now?

_Please let nothing have gone wrong..._

The sound of running footsteps reached his ears and he bolted to his feet, reaching for his sheathed knife. Jack burst out of the passageway, panting, eyes bright with terror.

"Servic... it didn't work. He's... _here_," Jack gasped out.

"Where's Millie?" Servic demanded, grabbing his ally's shoulders and shaking him. "Where is she?"

Jack shook his head, hands on his knees as he struggled to regain his breath. "I... don't know."

"What happened?"

"His little plan failed. Didn't it, Six?" Ferro stepped out of the same passageway from which Jack had emerged, not even a bit out of breath. The District Six boy snarled and launched himself forward, trying to stab Ferro, who deflected him easily. The District One boy's hand sliced downwards, connecting with the back of Jack's neck and sending him crashing to the ground, where he lay, unmoving. Servic didn't hear a cannon, so presumably he was still alive- for now, at least.

Ferro Turned on him and Servic tensed, knife out and pointed at his opponent, knowing that he stood no chance against the Career.

"Hey! That's my boyfriend you're trying to kill, you bastard!"

_Millie!_ Relief flooding him, Servic spun to see the brown-haired girl crouched at the top of the wall, bow pointed at Ferro. She loosed the arrow and he turned, expecting to see Ferro fall to the ground with an arrow in his heart. Instead, the grey-haired boy threw himself to one side with lightning speed, the arrow clattering harmlessly off the wall behind him.

Quicker than Servic could blink, Ferro _threw_ his sword up at Millie, neatly slicing her bow in half. Startled off-balance, the District Three girl tottered and fell forward, landing with a sickening crunch. Her face went pale with pain and she clutched her right leg, which was now twisted at an awkward angle.

Ferro advanced on her, knife out, but Servic threw himself between him and Millie.

"I won't let you hurt her."

"Oh, really?" Ferro raised an eyebrow. "And how, may I ask, will you accomplish that?"

Servic pointed the knife into the smirking face before him, glaring.

Ferro snorted. "Do you really think that'll stop me? I'll just kill her right now, if you don't mind. I'll make it quick, I promise."

"Over my dead body," Servic spat.

"If you insist~"

_Crap. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say_. He didn't even have time to react before Ferro's fist slammed into the side of his head. There was no pain, of course, but the impact made his head spin unpleasantly. The next blow landed squarely on his solar plexus, driving him to his knees with the breath knocked out of him.

"Sparky!" Millie stretched out her hand to him. To Ferro she yelled, "Don't you dare hurt him! Don't you _dare_!"

The District One boy responded to this by slamming his knife up to the hilt in her chest.

"No!" Servic struggled to his feet, horror flooding him. "No! Millie!"

This time Ferro backhanded him across the face, knocking him backwards into the wall. Something red splashed onto Servic's hand and he reached up to discover that his nose was broken, pouring blood down his chin. ignoring this, he scrambled up. The cannon had yet to sound, so maybe there was a chance that Millie would make it...

"A knife to the heart and you're still alive... stubborn, eh?" Ferro reached down and roughly yanked his weapon out of Millie's body, prompting a cry of pain from the fallen girl. A dark stain was spreading across the front of her shirt with alarming speed. "Whatever. Take your time. Die _slow_. I'll take care of your boyfriend in the meantime."

Before Ferro had turned all the way around, Servic struck out with his knife, almost stabbing the District One boy in the shoulder. Almost, but not quite. And before he could recover, Servic found himself slammed back against the wall, hands pinned above his head by Ferro's. His knife tumbled from his grasp, falling to the ground by his feet.

"Well, then, Three, looks like it's just you and me. Hey, that rhymed, didn't it?" A humorless smile stretched across the Career's face as he leaned in, smirking at Servic.

"Just get it over with, Ferro," he said with false bravado. "Kill me already."

"Someone's impatient. Say, you're the boy who can't feel pain, right? You mentioned that in your interview."

Servic nodded, wondering why Ferro had brought this up now.

"So just stabbing you wouldn't be as fun. Hey, do you know what this is for?" Ferro pulled out a rod identical to the one that Servic had recovered from Fleece's bag.

"You don't know what it's for? You're such an _idiot_."

"Hey, hey, _I'm _the one that's supposed to be insulting _you_, not the other way around. Anyways, did you know that pressing this button creates an electrical discharge? And I happen to know that copper wire-" indicating Servic's token, the capper wire bracelet- "conducts electricity _very well_."

Ferro's plan suddenly became clear to Servic. And if that jolt of electricity could take down a _robot_, what would it do to a human?

Servic grunted as Ferro shoved him to the ground and planted one foot on his chest, the rubber sole of his boot insulating him from the coming electricity. Then he grabbed Servic's wrist, the one with the bracelet, and pressed the business end of the rod against it. There was a soft click as he depressed the button.

Blue-white crackles of electricity coruscated around the wire, and Servic smelled something like flesh burning- and realized that it was his.

_Massive discharges of electricity can restart the heart of someone who's stopped breathing. It can also shock a living human's heart into stopping. _He couldn't feel anything, of course, but that didn't mean that the damage wasn't being done.

He realized that Ferro had let go of him and backed away, but he could hardly see the District One boy through the glowing nimbus of electricity surrounding him. He _felt_ his heart stutter and stop beating, then heard his own cannon boom- no doubt something that very few Tributes got to experience. Then he fell, the world around him darkening.

Five minutes later, Millie's cannon fired as well.

* * *

"Nngh..." Head pounding, Jack sat up, groaning. He looked around the deserted clearing, shocked.

_Where is everybody? What happened?_

He remembered rushing at Ferro, trying to kill him, and then a blinding pain at the base of his neck. After that... nothing. He supposed that Ferro had knocked him out, though why the District One boy hadn't just killed him was a mystery.

Looking around, Jack saw a sizable bloodstain on one of the glass walls, still not completely dry. Upon closer inspection, he also spotted a splintered half of Millie's bow, smack in the middle of the puddle of blood. A couple of yards away lay Servic's knife, next to an oddly burned patch of grass.

A horrifying realization dawned on him. _They're dead. Servic and Millie are dead. Ferro killed them_. This was swiftly followed by a crushing wave of guilt- they'd died because of his plan, hadn't they? Wasn't it his fault that they'd died? He'd killed them as surely as if he'd been the one holding the knife.

_Anya was right. I shouldn't have even considered it- it was stupid, thinking we could take on one of the Careers._ Ferro had disappeared at some point, though Jack had no idea how long he'd been out. Long enough, apparently- the two remaining members of his alliance were _dead_.

_Why am I still alive? I shouldn't be- it was _my_ plan. If anyone had to die it should've been me._

His gaze fell on the grey box that Servic had claimed could control the entire arena. It was smoking slightly- surely not a good sign, but whatever. Something that the District Three boy had said while they were planning came back to him now.

_"I have to be the only one that so much as _touches_ this box, got it? One wrong rewiring and the whole arena could blow up or something."_

_Jack had reacted to that with no small amount of incredulity. "Why would the Gamemakers give us access to that kind of power?"_

_Servic had shrugged. "Entertainment value, I suppose. See if we can figure it out."_

Whatever the Gamemakers' reasoning, the presence of the box had been an integral part of Jack's plan. And now it could serve another purpose, if Jack's idea worked out.

Ignoring the splitting pain in his head, he knelt next to the box and rolled up his sleeves. _It shouldn't be too hard to screw something up here,_ he reasoned. _Hell, I do that all the time without even trying, don't I?_ He could almost see Servic and Millie's faces in his mind's eye, victims of his ill-fated plan.

Jack took the two thickest wires he could find and carefully stripped the rubber covering off with his fingernails as he had seen Servic do.

_One move and it'll all be over. No winner... no victory... just fire. And I'll be where I deserve to be. Dead._

He touched the two wires together. There was an explosion of light and heat- and then everything went black.

* * *

Fireballs erupted from around the cornucopia, rapidly flooding every passageway of the maze in an expanding storm of fire. Viewed from outside, the glassy walls of the maze showed a roiling mass of orange and black, pressing against the barrier like a wild animal trying to escape its cage, thick clouds of smoke billowing up and staining the blue sky above.

Then the inferno exploded out of the maze, literally _shattering_ the thick outer walls in a glittering shower of glass shards. The sound of the explosion was lost in the deafening roar and crackle of the flames.

That sound was all that alerted Andrew to his impending doom. The District Two boy half turned, saw the flames rushing towards him, and tried to run. He was far too slow. Overtaken and engulfed by the fire, he was visible for a split second as a dark shape, body blackened and carbonized by the intense heat. His cannon was inaudible over the noise of the fire.

Sheltered behind a chunk of the fallen wall, Ferro watched with wide eyes as the conflagration tore through the arena, consuming everything in its path. At the other end of the arena, Anya stood in the middle of the river, shivering in the bone-numbing water but praying that it would shelter her from the blaze. Tinder, on the other hand, huddled on the far side of the water behind a rock, knowing that if the fire jumped the river he was doomed.

But the arena wasn't done with them. A soft rumble pervaded the air, followed by an slight, almost imperceptible shaking of the ground. Then there was a more pronounced shake, and the floor of the arena _split open_, a canyon gaping across the ground between the maze and the river.

A few more quakes shook the arena, sending what few trees were still standing crashing down. It took several minutes for the fire to start dying down, but once it had exhausted all the fuel on its side of the river it lost its momentum, unable to summon the energy needed for it to cross the water and burn the forest there. The stretch of ground between the river and the maze was an ashen wasteland, split down the middle by the new gorge, like a dark scar across the arena.

Everything was silent. Everything was still. It was almost as if there was nothing left alive in the arena.

* * *

**7) Servic Gearwhir: honestly one of my favorite characters, but his character profile pretty much _gave_ me this death. It was all like, 'copper wire conducts electricity. Just saying'. And I was like, he's gotta die now. And it has to involve electricity. Hehe...**

**6) Millienna (Millie) Roberts: I didn't get to develop her character as well as I wanted to, but I liked her too.**

**5) Andrew Clanculum: We never really heard from him after Kyla's death. He's another character that I probably could've done a better job with.**

**Remember, they aren't dead until their name appears here in my authors note~ so we're down to the last four! That would be Anya, Tinder, Ferro, and Jack, in case you were wondering. Oh, and there's a theme to the chapter titles, by the way. Can you find it? :)**


	25. Chapter 27: Ashes to Ashes

**Amendment to my previous author's note- chapter titles for _Chapter 8 _to the end have a theme. The first seven are just typical SYOT stuff.**

**Day Eight Part Three**

* * *

There was a thin pall of smoke hanging over the maze was nothing more than a shattered, melted pile of glass fragments, surrounded by the carbonized skeletons of trees. Fully half of the ground had been scorched black and bare, parts of it still smoldering. Nothing moved.

"What the _hell_ was that?"

Ferro, who had taken shelter from the firestorm under a fallen piece of the maze, shoved the glass-like slab off of him and stood up, dusting his hands off. There were soft grey puffs of ash falling from the sky. The District One boy looked around, actually freaked out for the first time since he'd entered the arena.

_How did this happen?_ He knew that his survival was the result of pure luck and fast reflexes- the idea that he could've actually _died_ was a bit scary. He wondered how many people were left- the fire had been so loud that any cannons that had fired would have been indistinguishable form the general din.

Something different (well, besides the burned-down forest, which was _also_ rather different) caught his eye. An oddly dark area stretched across the arena from end to end, neatly bisecting the land. Drawing closer, he saw that it was a canyon, probably created by the shaking of the ground during the fire. Again, he wondered exactly how this had all happened- it didn't seem like a typical Gamemaker plan, just wrecking the arena like this.

Leaning over, he noticed something else about the canyon. It was only about four meters deep, and at the bottom was a host of gleaming red eyes, staring up at him from metal faces.

_Whoa. That's a lot of robots_. Ferro drew back, making a mental note to never fall in there. Something told him that those robots were not very friendly.

Some of his earlier confidence reappearing, the District One boy made his way across the burnt ground to where he had hidden earlier. Recovering the knife he had dropped there- his sword, which he had dropped in the maze, seemed to be lost forever- he straightened and surveyed the area.

Beyond the river, which was on the other side of the canyon, the forest was still green and unburnt. Any Tributes that had hidden over there were probably safe. Anyone on this side, on the other hand, would've had to be amazingly lucky to survive. Like Ferro.

A movement on the other side of the chasm made him turn. A boy stepped out of the river and made his way over the wasteland, apparently having not seen Ferro yet. He recognized him- it was Tinder.

As usual, he didn't think twice before calling out. "Hey, Twelve! Looks like you survived that little mishap, too, eh? Not quite your typical campfire, was it?"

Tinder's head whipped up as he noticed Ferro for the first time. "Oh. It's you. I was hoping that you'd died."

"That's not very nice. In fact, I'm rather offended. Why don't you come over here and discuss that with me?"

The District Twelve boy shrugged and lept over the canyon- it was only about a meter and a half across, and it wasn't that hard for a Career to jump it. Ferro noticed that Tinder still had his sword, which left him at a slight disadvantage, as he only had a knife. Not that the grey haired boy was concerned about his chances of winning this fight.

The instant he was across, Tinder swung his sword down, obviously hoping to catch Ferro off guard. It didn't work. He deflected the blow with the flat of his knife, then darted forward and slashed at the District Twelve boy's hand. Tinder pulled back, Ferro's blade missing by a hairsbreadth.

Ferro was fairly sure that he knew something Tinder didn't about the canyon- namely, that it was filled with robots. The District Twelve boy hadn't glanced into the pit when he'd jumped over, and before Ferro had called him over he hadn't been close enough to see to the bottom. He wasn't quite sure yet how that might help him, but it was at least enough to make him keep Tinder between him and the chasm.

The two boys continued to feint and dodge, feet scuffing up little clouds of ash from the scorched earth. Sweat dripped down their soot-stained faces and soaked their tattered clothes- there was still a great deal of residual heat in the air from the fire.

The Tinder took one step too far back, left foot slipping off the edge of the canyon. Seeing his chance, Ferro reached out and shoved the District Twelve boy back into the the gap.

Tinder's fingers caught on the edge of the cliff and only just kept him from falling to the bottom. For the first time, he looked down and saw the dozens of waiting robots that he was dangling over. Fear flashed across his face as he looked back up at Ferro.

"Oh my, Twelve, you seem to be in a bit of trouble. I believe that this is what they call a 'cliffhanger', no?"

"Damn you, Ferro," TInder gritted out from between clenched teeth. His muscles stood out with the strain of keeping himself out of the snapping jaws of the robots below. He tried to pull himself back up, but his fingers slipped in the thick layer of ash that coated the ground. Ferro watched this all with a slight smirk on his face.

"Having some problems?"

Tinder looked up at him. "Tell me, Ferro- does _anyone_ like you? Or are you this much of a sadistic bastard to everyone you meet?"

"I don't see how this pertains to you, seeing as you're about to die. But if you must know, I treat everyone pretty much the same." Ferro leaned over the edge and peered down at the robots with exaggerated concern. "Those don't look too friendly, do they?"

The District Twelve boy's grip was wavering, but he continued to glare at Ferro.

"I'm getting rather bored now," the grey haired boy remarked, tapping the blade of his knife against his chin. "Shall I hurry this up for you?" Without waiting for a response, he crouched and lightly ran his knife across the exposed knuckles of Tinder's fingers, slitting the skin open. Blood welled up and read down Tinder's wrist, but the boy hung on stubbornly.

"You're a tough boy, twelve," Ferro commented, raising his knife once more.

A smile slowly split his face. "Tinder."

"What?" Ferro paused, knife hovering over the other boy's hands.

"My name is _Tinder_. Not Twelve." And with that, he released his blood-stainded grasp on the edge and fell into the waiting jaws of the robots below.

Curious, Ferro leaned over the brink and stared, fascinated, as the mechanical animals tore his former adversary apart. A spatter of blood flew up and splashed across his face, but he didn't move until the cannon boomed about a minute later.

"Well, you can die knowing that you were the only one to even wound me... Tinder." Ferro touched the scar on his cheek again, then sheathed his knife. Pity that the District Twelve boy's sword had fallen into the canyon with him- he could've used it.

* * *

Anya was seriously wondering if she was the only one still alive after the firestorm had torn through the arena earlier that day. The District Eleven girl had taken shelter in the river, cold as it was, and though she was still damp and shivering, she'd survived. She couldn't imagine how anyone on the other side of the river could've done the same.

So it was a considerable surprise for her to see a familiar shape stumble out of the smoking remains of the maze, coughing and choking but very much _alive_.

"Jack!" His name burst form her a bit louder than she'd intended, but she didn't care. Seeing her former ally caused a surprisingly large wave of relief to fill her- even after the explosive argument with Jack that had precipitated her dramatic departure, she still cared about Jack's survival.

The District Six boy looked up, surprised. "A-anya?" he rasped out.

She jumped the canyon, which was hardly two feet across here, and rushed over to him. "My god, Jack... how did you survive that?" Though she used the word 'survive' in its loosest definition- Jack was covered in burns, clothing in tatters, skin blistered and charred form the heat.

He shook his head. "I... I thought I was gonna die. I deserved to die. Millie and Servic got killed by my plan. I killed them."

_Someone's got a bad case of survivor's guilt_, Any noted. Aloud, she said. "But how are you still alive? It looked like you were at the center of the explosion!" The maze had been the epicenter of the blaze, after all, and Jack had just emerged from the molten slag heap that was all that was left of that structure.

"I _was_ at the center. I created the explosion. The cornucopia... I guess it deflected most of the blast." He paused to hack into his fist, smoke-damaged lungs laboring to keep him alive.

"You sound like you're dying."

"I _am_ dying."

Anya frowned. "Don't talk like that, Jack."

"Funny. Didn't you say you hoped we'd die, when you were leaving?" He grinned at her, teeth shockingly white against his soot-blackened face.

She winced. "I never really meant that, and you know it." She paused, a troubling thought striking her. "We aren't the last two left, are we?"

"No. I saw Ferro killing Tinder 'bout an hour ago. So that jerk's still alive, unfortunately." Jack looked up at her. "But Anya... I think that's all. I think we're the last three left."

"No way. No- that's impossible."

He looked at her, a very serious expression on his face. "Anya, I want you to go now. Leave me."

"Huh?"

"Ferro's still here. On this side of the canyon. If you go now, he'll find me here and I can stall him long enough for you to get away. Hide and wait for him to die. I'll try and wound him."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm _not_."

"Will you _ever_ stop arguing with me?" Jack shook his head. "I thought you wanted to _win_ the Games. Go home to your sisters."

"I don't want to hide behind you. I don't want you to die for me."

"I don't want you to die. And I'm doomed anyways."

There was a snap from the other side of the melted glass heap. Both Jack and Anya heard it and froze.

"He's coming, Anya. Go. _Now!_"

She paused for one agonized second, emotion clearly warring on her face. Finally she bit her lip and nodded. Then, tears in her eyes, she leaned in and wrapped Jack in a hug.

"I... Jack, I'm sorry," was all she managed to get out. There was so much more she wanted to tell him- _I'm sorry I'm leaving you again, I'm sorry I was always so mean to you, I'm sorry I never returned all your kindness and trust towards me-_ but Jack seemed to understand everything she couldn't say.

"Don't be. I get it. Now _go_!"

She turned and ran, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that streamed down her face.

_I'm sorry I'm never going to be able to tell you how much I loved you._

* * *

"I see your ally deserted you," Ferro remarked sardonically, stepping over a meter-long shard of glass. Jack stood on unsteady feet, knife out, watching his draw closer.

"She didn't _desert_ me. I told her to go."

"Ah, I see. You're protecting the little bitch, aren't you?"

"Don't call her that," he spat, taking a wavery step forwards.

Ferro eyed disapprovingly. "You don't look so hot, Six. Sure you can handle a fight with me? You can always go run away and join Tinder at the bottom of that robot pit."

"That's okay. Maybe _you_ can join him soon- in hell."

"Oh, ouch. Then again, I can't exactly go there if I'm not dead, can I?" The District One boy swung his knife experimentally- the same one he'd used to kill Millie- then darted past Jack, blade scoring a cut along his side. Feeling slow and clumsy, aching all over form the third-degree u that covered most of his body, Jack turned to see Ferro's knife inches from his nose.

"Face it, SIx. You're never gonna beat me, and this fight isn't even entertaining with you in this shape. I'm going to stop playing with you now, okay?"

The only indication jack had that his time was up was a sudden, searing pain across his neck. Blood spurted into the air and he realized that Ferro had just slit his throat. He fell backwards, landing painfully on his back against the melted glass. Meeting Ferro's ice-blue eyes, he managed to get a few more words out of his damaged windpipe.

"If you kill Anya, I swear I'll come back and haunt you until the _day_ you _die_."

Ferro laughed. "Too bad I don't believe in ghosts. Sorry, Six."

Jack found it impossible to speak anymore. The world was starting to fade and warp around him, and he found himself filled with an odd emotion- regret.

_I'll never get to tell Anya how much I loved her._

And then there were no more regrets.

Jack's cannon fired, the deep, mournful rumble shaking the very air of the arena.

* * *

With the approach of night, the air took on a slight chill. Dark grey clouds gathered on the horizon, promising rain before daybreak. Anya sat on the bank of the river, listlessly trailing her fingers through the water.

As the first strains of the Panem national anthem reached her ears, she sat up and and tilted her head back, staring up at the sky, waiting. Waiting and watching for what she already knew would appear.

The first face to materialize was that of the District Two boy, Andrew. Anya hadn't ever even talked to him, but he'd seemed different from most District Two Tributes. Less bloodthirsty.

Then Millie's face, cheerful even in the static picture. Her green eyes twinkled with all the energy they had in life. Anya found herself clenching her fists, cursing herself for leaving them- she didn't even know how they'd died.

Servic's face was next. She remembered how he'd been at the very beginning, during Training... shy, twitchy, stuttery. He'd changed so much during the Games, becoming more confident, more outgoing. And now he was dead.

A flash of guilt accompanied the next one- Zana. Anya's hands were irrevocably stained with this girl's blood. She was as much a murderer as Ferro, no matter how she tried to rationalize it away.

_I didn't even know her name until Jack told me._

Jack... and he was next, of course. Anya had heard his cannon, known it was his and not Ferro's, the sound petrifying her where she stood. She'd known he would die when she turned her back on him for the second time and left him- she'd condemned him to death, in fact, by deserting him. But having it confirmed had struck her hard, guilt and remorse and grief crashing down on her.

Then the final face appeared in the sky and Anya recognized Rosa's District partner, Tinder. Not for the first time, she wondered what had prompted a District twelve boy to join the Careers. Not that it had worked out too well for him- if Jack was right, it had been another Career that had killed him, in the end.

So it really was just her and Ferro left, now. And she wasn't so naive as to assume that the District one boy would wait until dawn to strike. No, it would all happen tonight- the hunt, the fight, maybe even the kill.

Anya knew what she had to do if she wanted to win.

* * *

**4) Tinder Sedenworth: one of the most interesting characters submitted. I really liked him. Too bad he had to die. And his line to Ferro about his name- was it familiar? It should've been- if not, go reread Chapter 19. That is what is known as character development! (...kinda.)**

**3) Jack Everain: sorry, raiden221. He was a great character. Hope his death scene was acceptable and all that.**

**Review please, everyone!**


	26. Chapter 28: Endgame

**Day Nine Part One**

* * *

The clouds that had been gathering ominously on the horizon now covered the entire arena, obscuring the stars and casting everything into even deeper darkness. The first few drops of rain began to fall, followed by many more. Within a minute it was a veritable downpour, soaking the ashen ground and pattering against the leaves of the few trees that remained.

_Great. Of course it would rain. _Anya forced herself to look on the bright side- at least in this rain, the Gamemakers couldn't throw fireballs at them.

There was a snap from behind and she turned, already knowing what she would see. Ferro stood in the shadow of the nearest tree, grey hair already soaking wet, rain running down his face. It was a few hours past midnight- he'd waited for longer than she'd expected.

"Hello, Eleven. You and I are all that's left, did you know that?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, I'm sorry I have to kill you."

"You have to catch me first, of course." And with that she turned and ran, feet slipping and sliding in the mud. All she had to do was get Ferro to the river and she was in the clear... Jack's sacrifice had given her the time she needed to set up an ambush spot. She'd avenge his death if it was the last thing she did.

Ferro was calmly loping after her, taking his time. He obviously thought that he could take her down easily enough. That kind of pissed Anya off- she hated being underestimated.

_I have to win. I have to win for Jack and I have to win for my sisters, 'cause they need me to come home to them._ She hadn't even expected to get this far, but now that there was actually a chance that she might win she couldn't bear to just give up.

Anya splashed through the river, feet finding the most stable rocks from experience- she'd been fording the river this way since she'd left Jack and the others, and it was familiar enough by now. Ferro, of course, was not so lucky. He slipped and fell about halfway across, forcing him to throw out his arms for balance.

Which gave her the time she needed to slip into the shadows on the other side.

* * *

Cursing and sputtering, Ferro dragged himself out of the river, shaking the mud off his hands. As if he wasn't already wet enough- damn this infernal rain. And now Anya had managed to disappear somewhere in the burnt land beyond the river.

_Hm... I'll bet it's a trap. She and her ally are more similar than they think._

He advanced cautiously, knife out and ready. The rain kept on getting in his eyes, which was really annoying. At least the precipitation lept the ash level down- the floating particulate had given him a slight cough. As he rounded the shattered remains of the maze, he heard something shift. Before he could turn around there were a pair of hands around his neck, chocking off his air supply. He staggered as Anya's weight hit him- she seemed to have jumped onto his back.

Unfortunately for her, she'd forgotten that Ferro had a knife. A knife that he now brought up and, almost nonchalantly, slashed across her arm. She let go with a soft cry of pain and fell back against the rain-slicked glass.

Ferro chuckled and slowly licked the blood off his blade. It tasted like old pennies and something sweet and soft that had been left outside too long. "Poor, poor little girl. Do you really think you can beat me? I'm the best at this that there is."

She stood up, pulling out her own knife. "I'm not afraid of you, Ferro. I've killed, too. I'm just as much of a murderer as you are."

At this he outright laughed. "Oh, Eleven. One killing does not a murderer make. I'll bet that it wasn't even on purpose, was it?" He leaned in, a wicked smirk on his face. "I'll let you in on a little secret, okay? I've killed nine people already. And I'm aiming to make you the tenth."

She obviously had no idea how to respond to that.

"Know what else? I _liked_ killing them. I liked looking into their eyes and watching the life bleed out of them. Does that scare you, Eleven?"

From the look on her face, it scared her quite a bit. To be quite honest, Ferro hadn't expected his last fight to be with the District Eleven girl- he'd thought that someone like Tinder or Rydel or even Andrew would've survive this long. But he supposed that Andrew had died in the firestorm and Tinder had been easy to kill, in the end.

Anya turned and fled into the open field where a forest had stood before the fire. Ferro followed, reminded of the games of tag he had played with Lily when they were much, much younger. Only right now lives were at stake.

Fighting at night was difficult for those not trained for it, as most obstacles were near impossible to see. Your opponent was nothing more than a pale blur. He was willing to wager that Anya had never fought in the dark before.

"You can run, but you can't hide~" he called.

There was a blinding flash of lightning, followed by the crash of thunder. The landscape was momentarily illuminated, and Ferro caught sight of Anya. He started sprinting after her, knowing that he could catch up to her easily, knowing that there was only one way this could end. He knew that once he killed her he'd never be able to kill anyone else ever again. Because oddly enough, while killing was encouraged in the Hunger Games, if you did it outside the arena you got arrested.

He'd enjoy killing her.

* * *

Anya was finally trapped next to the canyon, at its widest point. Five meters across would be too far for him to jump, let alone her. Terrified but determined, she lunged at him, knife reaching for his neck, but he knocked the blade out of her hand, sending it clattering to the ground. She scrambled to grab it, knowing it was her only chance at survival, but Ferro calmly kicked it into the canyon.

She looked up at him, a pleading look in her eyes. "Please... don't kill me."

"Why shouldn't I? I want to win just as much as you do. And I think I deserve to win more than you. I've actually worked for this."

"My sisters want me to go home to them."

"You think I give a damn about some brats I've never even met?" Ferro grabbed her shoulder and threw her to the ground. Anya landed with a painful thud and and gasped as he planted his foot on her stomach, pinning her down.

_He's going to kill me_, she realized.

He slowly brought the knife closer to her face until it was about an inch from her nose. Then he slashed downwards, slicing a fairly deep cut from her left eyebrow to her chin. She screamed in pain, bucking and twisting under the District One boy, who was now kneeling on her, holding her down. She couldn't see out of her left eye, and the agony was unbelievable. Horrified, she stared up at Ferro through her remaining eye, feeling the blood and ocular fluid drip down her cheek.

He had a smirk on his face as he brought the knife down again and gently traced a line across her neck, not breaking the skin. "Do you want to die like Jack? I slit his throat, just like that. Or maybe like Millie- I got her in the chest. Or do you want to try and run so I can stab you in the back like I did Romulus? Anything you want, Eleven. Just say the word."

The pain was so overwhelming she couldn't speak. But something made her keep fighting, keep struggling against Ferro's iron grip.

The District One boy drove the knife into her stomach and ripped it across. She heard a high-pitched, agonized scream and realized that it was hers. She could actually see her intestines spilling out of the gash in her abdomen.

"Hurts, does it? Did you know that stomach wounds take a long time to die from?" Ferro sat back, withdrawing his blade. "But I can wait. Take your time dying, Eleven- I don't mind."

She tried to sit up, but found it impossible to move more than an inch. Sobbing with pain, single eye blurred with tears, she stared up into the dark sky, feeling the rain splash over her outstretched body from above. Time no longer had any meaning for her- she could've lain there for a minute, an hour, a _year_, for all she knew. There was only the pain, centered on her stomach and face but throbbing through her body with every beat of her heart.

_I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you, Jack_.

Finally, mercifully, she felt herself drifting, the pain- and everything else- falling away. The sun was rising, clouds drifting away. The rain had slackened to a misty drizzle. SHe found herself floating up into the light, into nothingness.

Her cannon boomed.

Ferro Rete had won the Hunger Games.

* * *

**2) Anya Deelastani: See, Ferro was always gonna win. I decided that from pretty much the first chapter. It's just what _makes sense_, right? He's a Career! So too bad for her sisters and all that, but she had to die.**

**If you don't mind taking the time, I'd appreciate you answering these questions in your review.**

**Which characters did you create (if any)?**

**Who was your favorite character and why (not one you created)?**

**2nd favorite (+why)?**

**Least favorite (+why)?**

**Favorite alliance?:**

**Favorite couple?:**

**Couple(s) you would've supported (that did not occur)?**

**Favorite chapter?**

**Best line?**

**Best death scene?**

**Best backstory?**

**Best last line?**

**Best scene?**

**Best fight scene?**

**Any complaints?**

**Further comments?**

**If I did another SYOT, would you submit?**

* * *

**The official alliances were: ****Ferro/Lily/Rydel/Saffron/Tinder, Eve/Fleece/Rosa/Anya/Jack, Avi/Andrew/Millie/Servic, Zana/Fiore, Lysander/Kyla, Andrew/Kyla, Millie/Servic/Anya/Jack, Anya/Jack, Fleece/Rosa, Romulus, Walter**

******The official couples were: Leo/Julia (remember them?), Fleece/Rosa, Zana/Fiore, Servic/Millie**


	27. Chapter 29: That Which Survives

**Ferro's Victory Tour! Yay! And after this there's one more chapter. Just FYI.**

* * *

They interviewed him after taking him in a hovercraft to the Capitol, but he didn't remember much of it. The real world was just so bright, so _loud_ after nine days in the arena. He'd lost track of the days and was surprised to find out that it wasn't even two weeks- it felt like an eternity.

He still had to do his Victory Tour. He didn't want to, really- all he wanted to do is go home and sleep. He was really tired. But it's all part of that long tradition that is the Hunger Games, and there's no way he could get out of this responsibility.

They put him on the train and sent him on his way to District Twelve with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. Once in the car, he had hoped he could take a nap, but no such luck.

"Ferro! Great job, kiddo!" Egeus Quince, District One mentor, slapped him heartily on the back, grinning. "You won the Games! How d'you feel?"

"Tired. And hungry." He hadn't eaten much at the little feast they'd had, though the food had looked good.

"Well, I'm sure we can scrounge some food for you on this train. I'll go do that right now, eh?" And off the beefy man went, humming to himself. Ferro stared at him, overwhelmed by his energetic happiness.

"So you won."

He turned to face hie Escort, Leywyn Averroes. "And you didn't think I could."

"Of course I didn't. And you did so by killing Lily."

"And nine others, yes. You don't approve?"

"No. I don't approve of any killing at all."

"Good thing I don't give a damn whether you approve or not." He turned away and faced the window, watching District Nine speed by. They were almost there.

She sighed. "Go get changed. We'll be there in ten minutes."

Ferro shrugged and gestured at his plain dark pants and shirt. "What, isn't this enough? It's probably better than most of the outfits in District Twelve."

"Stop arguing with me. Go get _changed._"

"Fine." He stalked into the nearest room and grabbed the ridiculous suit that they wanted him to wear from the hanger. Why should he get all dressed up to talk to those losers? Stupid Capitol. He'd given them all the entertainment they needed, killing almost half of the Tributes...

District Twelve. Tinder had been from District Twelve, as Ferro had made sure to remind him of at every possible turn. In the end he had died well, but Ferro had still killed him with ease. Like he'd killed everyone else. Killing was easy. He'd miss it, now that he wasn't in the Hunger Games.

* * *

Selections from Ferro Rete's Victory Tour speeches.

District Twelve

"Hello, District Twelve!" (pause) "What, no applause?" (longer pause- complete silence) "Fine. Be that way. I'm Ferro Rete, but you probably already know that , seeing as I won the Hunger Games. Oh, and I killed Tinder. He was from here, right? So was Rosa. But my mentor says that he killed her, so really you should be happy I killed him!"

"..."

"Anyways, I know that you were desperately hoping that I'd die throughout the entire Game. Thanks for that and have a nice rest of your lives!"

District Eleven

"Well, after the last District I don't really expect applause, but I'll pause here in case anyone wants to recognize my awesomeness." (pause. Crickets are audible.) "Well, then. Let's see... your Tributes were Anya and Nikolaus, right? Well, Nikolaus didn't enjoy the great honor of being killed by me, but Anya did! She was the last person I killed, in fact. Which is a great honor. She almost won, you know. Not that I want to rub it in that she's dead or anything."

Ferro took advantage of this particular awkward pause to note that there were three identical little girls in the front row. glaring at him. He supposed that they were Anya's little sisters. Pity, really, that Anya hadn't been able to go home to them.

"Well, that's all. Hope you have a good day!"

District Ten

"I don't even remember who your Tributes are." (pause while Leywyn hisses something to Ferro) "Oh, right. Eve and Lysander. Wait, I killed Eve. I thought she was from Eight or something. I had a good time killing her." (pause. It looks like Leywyn is getting really pissed off at Ferro) "Was that the wrong thing to say? I'm sorry. Eve was a great person and I'm sure her loss will be felt deeply by everyone and all that great stuff."

Ferro was dragged off stage by Leywyn before the Peacekeepers could even get up onto the stage to escort him back to the train.

"You have to be more caring, Ferro," Egeus pleaded.

"Me? Caring? Isn't that like asking the grass not to grow? The sun not to rise?" The-"

"Oh, shut up," Leywyn snapped. "You're hurting their families by acting so uncaring."

"Do I look like I care?"

"Look, all we want you to do is be a bit... more tactful." Egeus sighed. "Can you try that?"

The District One boy didn't respond, instead choosing to stare out the train window at the forest whizzing by.

District Nine

"I've been told to be nicer, so here you go. Your Tributes were super awesome. Kyla was cute and Romulus was fun..." (pause, those in the front row can hear Ferro mutter 'to kill...'). "I'm sorry that a twelve year old like Kyla got Reaped, she really never had a chance against us older Careers. Romulus... never really knew him, but i know he left a little sister here. Ah~ I see her in the front row! Hello, Romulus' little sister~!"

Ferro waved at the tiny girl in the front row, who responded by flipping him off.

"Um... okay, then. That's all, I guess."

District Eight

"Hm... Fleece and Cristina, right? I suppose you blame me for her death, since I told Tinder to kill her. Ah, well. She was a twelve year old, what kinda chance did she stand anyways?" (pause- complete silence) "Wow, today's just not my day for applause, is it? Well, goodbye."

District Seven

"What the hell am I supposed to say about Tributes I never talked to? I didn't even kill Walter or Fiore!"

District Six

"Jack was a brave boy, really, sacrificing himself for his ally. Even if it was quite futile, seeing as Anya died. But I thought it was rather cute, honestly. Um... your other Tribute was Zana, right? I don't really remember her."

District Five

"I killed both Leo and Julia, didn't I? Too bad. They made a cute couple." (pause) "I bet you all really hate me, don't you?" (no audible response, but a few nods).

District Four

"Rydel killed Avi and I killed him. That's pretty much the story of your Tributes. Rydel wasn't the strongest of my alliance, but the fact that he was even in it says something for his skill, doesn't it?"

"..."

Ferro sighed. "People need to start being more friendly... still no applause."

District Three

"Once again, I find myself in a District whose Tributes I killed. Both of them. I thought that Servic and Millie were cute together, and I'm sorry that they had to die (not really) but there can only be one winner, right? And it kinda looks like that was me."

Offstage, Leywyn facepalmed. Egeus heard her mutter, "That's it. Next year, I quit. No more Escort business for me."_  
_

District Two

"Just for the record, I didn't kill either Andrew or Saffron. But I did avenge Saffron's death by killing Tinder, right?" (pause- one or two people clap) "Finally, a bit of recognition! Anyways, I didn't really know Andrew but he was a fairly strong fighter. I think."

Awkward pause.

"Um... bye."

District One

"Lookit that! I'm back in my home District! Everyone happy to see me again?"

Dead. Silence.

"Oh, I get it. You're mad 'cause I killed Lily. And her father's the richest guy in the District. And half of you work for him and have your paychecks given to you by his henchmen. So you don't dare show your support for my epicness. I understand."

Most of the people in the crown were glaring at him by this point.

"God, I'm so glad I get to live in Victor's Village from now on," Ferro muttered under his breath. "Goodbye, everyone- and good riddance!"

* * *

"Ferro." A tall, grey haired man detached himself from the crowd and hurried over to his son.

"Dad."

"You have no right to call me that."

The boy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You betrayed an ancient family pledge to serve the Trintia family. We- the Rete men- have been their butlers for generations. You will never be forgiven for that."

"So I should've died to let her win?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, but I value my life a bit too much to do that."

"You are hereby no longer a member of my family. I do not recognize you as my son."

His son stared at him, a look of shock on his face. "What, over something as small as me killing the heir to the Trintia family?"

His father turned his back and walked away without a response.

"Ah... whatever."

* * *

"Before you go..."

Egeus Quince turned, a smile on his face. "Yes?" He was headed back to the Capitol on the train to take care of some 'business', and Ferro had wanted to catch him before he left.

"You never helped me, you know. I won the Hunger Games without you."

His mentor shrugged. "You didn't really need my help, did you?"

"No. I didn't need you. But you taught me something fairly important. You can't trust anyone except yourself, can you?"

"Fair enough observation." Egeus crossed his arms. "Is there a point to this?"

"Just this." Ferro had timed it perfectly- the train was just pulling around the corner, starting to brake at the platform. He knew from experience that it would take awhile for it to slow down, and that the driver had very little control of the vehicle at this point. And Egeus had no way of knowing what he had planned.

He thrust out his hands, hitting his mentor in the chest, driving him back. For one panicked second, the former Victor knew what had happened. Then he fell from the station platform onto the tracks and disappeared under the train's wheels. There was no cannon o go off, but it was fairly obvious that he couldn't have survived that. And no one would suspect that Egeus' death was anything other than an accident. They had no reason to believe otherwise.

"I just wanted one more kill, really," Ferro told the dead man. "And really, you were a crappy mentor. Someday I'll be a better one. And with you out of the way... that day will come that much sooner."

* * *

**In the end, Ferro killed eleven people, I guess. Review please- one more chapter, just to wrap it up.**


	28. Chapter 30: Random Thoughts

**This is the last chapter, I promise!**

* * *

Ferro Rete went on to be the mentor for the male District One Tributes starting the year after this, for the 100th Hunger Games (4th Quarter Quell). He led quite a few to victory and retired thirty years later, right before the 128th Hunger Games, at the age of 45, but was never really liked in District One after the events of the 98th Games. He married a girl from a wealthy family named Mia, perhaps in an attempt to gain popular approval, who died a year after their marriage under mysterious circumstances. Ferro was twenty-one when he married. Mia had no children. No charges were brought against him, though popular opinion in District One held that Ferro was somehow involved in Mia's death, if not directly responsible for it.

Anya's little sister Irulan was Reaped two years later, in the 100th Hunger Games (4th Quarter Quell). Her other two sisters, Chani and Alia, were never Reaped and went on to marry and have children. Their infirm aunt, Anirul, died peacefully in her sleep three years after Anya did.

Jack's brother eventually married Julie, one of the orphans that he and Jack lived with.

Tinder's body was brought back to D12 and he was buried with his parents and little brother Sereph. His adoptive parents lived for about fifteen more years, then died within two months of each other.

Kyla's little brother Bentley was taken from his father, who was arrested on charges of rape and assault of a minor, and adopted by the mayor of District Nine.

Romulus' little sister, Astris, was Reaped for the same Games as Irulan (4th QQ).

No one else really had interesting lives...

* * *

From the files of Archer Blyss, head Gamemaker of Panem: **[annotated by androidilenya]**

The 98th Hunger Games

Length: nine days

Winner: Ferro Rete of District One (age 15)

Arena Identification: Maze Incarnation 5.4 + program ID 'Hunters' + change program 19 (code name 'Firestorm') + weapons range #4: standard range + supplementary supply event ['feast'] #103- personalized

Further records of this Game, including camera records from all Gamemaker meetings and footage for all surveillance cameras in arena, can be found in the Capitol computer records under category '98th Hunger Games'.

TRIBUTES:

Ferro Rete- #1 **[by FireLamp]**

Lily Trintia- #14 (killed by Ferro) **[by me!]**

Andrew Clanculum- #5 (killed in firestorm) **[by VA842867]**

Saffron Jelikson- #16 (killed by Tinder) **[by me!]**

Servic (Sparky) Gearwhir- #7 (killed by Ferro)** [by Son of the Specter 992]**

Millienna (Millie) Roberts- #6 (killed by Ferro)** [by Alyssa Narcissa Malfoy]**

Rydel Dewleaf- #15 (killed by Tinder) **[by Can't-Live-Without-Camping]**

Averi (Avi) Mireault- #18 (killed by Rydel) **[by musicluvr157]**

Leonard (Leo) Cryonars- #21 (killed by Ferro) **[by Ilenya Lestrange]**

Julia Rikerson- #24 (killed by Ferro)** [by Ilenya Lestrange]**

Jack Everain- #3 (killed by Ferro)** [by raiden221]**

Zana Listal- #8 (killed by Anya)** [by Jenna S.]**

Walter Redwoods- #17 (killed by hunters)** [by VA842867]**

Fiore Arcase- #11 (killed by Zana) **[by Cronomon]**

Fleece Winnower- #10 (suicide) **[by Steel-Enigma]**

Cristina Valentina- #22 (killed by Tinder) **[by me!]**

Romulus Pace- #12 (killed by Ferro) **[by Cronomon]**

Kyla Sprit- #9 (killed by Andrew)** [by Can't-Live-Without-Camping]**

Lysander Hastings- #19 (killed by Rydel) **[by x-butterflykisses-x]**

Eve Epstein- #20 (killed by Ferro) **[by bullriding lover]**

Driania (Anya) Deelastani- #2 (killed by Ferro)** [by DanceEagle892]**

Nikolaus Hendricks- #23 (killed by Leo)** [by me!]**

Rosemarie (Rosa) Mariosta- #13 (killed by Tinder)** [by DanceEagle892]**

Tinder Sedenworth- #4 (killed by Ferro)** [by Steel-Enigma]**

KILLS:

Ferro- Julia, Leo, Eve, Lily, Romulus, Millie, Servic, Jack, Anya (10)

Tinder- Cristina, Saffron, Rydel, Rosa (4)

Rydel- Lysander, Avi (2)

Zana- Fiore (1)

Anya- Zana (1)

Andrew- Kyla (1)

Leo- Nikolaus (1)

TRIBUTE AGE DATA:

Average: 15.125

Mode: 15 (Ferro, Andrew, Saffron, Avi, Julia, Zana, Romulus)

Median: 15

Maximum: 18 (Tinder)

Minimum: 12 (Cristina, Kyla)

REAPING STATS:

Volunteers: Ferro, Lily, Andrew, Saffron, Rydel, Jack, Anya, Tinder (8)

Reaped: Servic, Millie, Avi, Leo, Julia, Zana, Walter, Fiore, Fleece, Cristina, Romulus, Kyla, Lysander, Eve, Nikolaus, Rosa (16)

DAYS/NUMBER OF DEATHS:

Day One: Julia/Nikolaus/Cristina/Leo

Day Two: Eve

Day Three: Lysander/Avi

Day Four: Walter

Day Five: Saffron/Rydel/Lily

Day Six: Rosa/Romulus/Fiore

Day Seven: Kyla/Fleece

Day Eight: Zana/Millie/Servic/Andrew/Tinder/Jack

Day Nine: Anya

TRIBUTE FAMILIES: SIBLINGS **[if not stated in character profile, I made names up]**

0 siblings: Ferro, Lily, Fleece, Fiore, Julia, Nikolaus, Cristina, Servic

1 sibling: Romulus (younger sister Astris), Rosa (older sister Anneliese), Kyla (younger brother Bentley), Avi (older sister Fallyn), Eve (dead older brother Cole), Jack (older brother Cole), Saffron (younger sister Star), Tinder (dead younger brother Marc)

2 siblings: Andrew (older brothers Jacob and Isaac), Rydel (younger brother Leighton, younger sister Delilah), Zana (older brothers Demetrius and Julius), Lysander (older brothers Jonathan and Richard), Walter (younger brothers Archer and Jonathan)

3 siblings: Anya (younger sisters Alia, Irulan, and Chani), Leo (older brother James, younger brother TIberius, dead younger sister Janice)

4 siblings: Millie (older brothers Grant, Mikael, William, and Jean)

TRIBUTE FEAST: NOTES

The predicted top five were given a 'robot killing rod' (Ferro, Tinder, Anya, Fleece, and Andrew)

Two people received poison (Zana and Fiore)

One person received a bow and a quiver of arrows (Millie)

Everyone else received a knife (and I don't feel like listing all the names, so ha!)

* * *

**Interesting Notes Not Included**

**-Rydel Dewleaf has a birthmark shaped like the old country 'America' on his right ankle. His mother, Striolania Dewleaf, suffers from seizures and bipolar disorder due to a medical accident immediately following the birth of Rydel's twin younger siblings Delilah and Leighton. She (the mother) is in a mental hospital and apparently occasionally escapes and threatens her family.**

**-Eve Epstein is the daughter of the mayor of District Ten. Her older brother Cole died two Games ago (in the 96th Hunger Games) and both she and her brother were trained for the Games. So she's technically a Career, but she hates them.**

**-Zana's Token was a marble that was originally part of a set that her grandmother owned (and died with in her hand). Zana kept one and sucks on it when she is afraid/emotional. **

**A note on the chapter titles: **

**From Chapter Eight onwards till the end (including this one!), there was a theme. They were all Star Trek t.v. series episode titles! If you got that, good job. If not, I didn't expect you to.**

* * *

**I really had an amazing time writing this story. Thanks to all who submitted and reviewed and supported me! I'm planning on doing another SYOT at some point, I'll contact y'all if you want to submit a Tribute. I'll miss these characters...**

**My personal favorites were Ferro, Fiore, Anya, Zana, Romulus, Servic, Tinder, and Kyla. It was the most fun to write Ferro's lines but my favorite p.o.v. to do was either Fiore's or Anya's. I didn't like Eve or Avi, they were total Mary Sues. My favorite pairing was Zana/Fiore. I would've totally shipped Ferro/Romulus, Fiore/Kyla, Anya/Jack, Tinder/Saffron... yeah. Don't judge. My favorite alliance was either the Careers or the Zana/Fiore one, it was fun to write for both. **

**I had fun writing all the death scenes. But I liked Anya's, Jack's, Avi's, and Fiore's. Romulus' last line was kinda epic... 'Ah... well, it's not as though someone like me could've won anyways'. Haha. Kyla's backstory was really interesting, hope I did an okay job with that. Writing all the Jack and Anya arguments was fun, and I liked most of Ferro's scenes, too. **

**Thank you to everyone, again. **


End file.
